Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Litmus test may refer to: Litmus test (chemistry), used to determine the acidity of a chemical solution; Litmus test (politics), a question that seeks to find the character of a potential candidate by measuring a single indicator; The Litmus Test, a Radio 4 programme presented by Fred Harris; The Litmus Test, a 2004 album by Cut Chemist
The metaphor of a litmus test has been used in American politics since the mid-twentieth century. [1] During United States presidential election campaigns, litmus tests the nominees might use are more fervently discussed when vacancies for the U.S. Supreme Court appear likely. Advocates for various social ideas or policies often wrangle ...
The phrase "I know it when I see it" was used in 1964 by United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart to describe his threshold test for obscenity in Jacobellis v. Ohio. [1] [2] In explaining why the material at issue in the case was not obscene under the Roth test, and therefore was protected speech that could not be censored, Stewart wrote:
It is similar in use to an acid test, or a litmus test in politics. The word was introduced into literary criticism by Matthew Arnold in "Preface to the volume of 1853 poems" (1853) to denote short but distinctive passages, selected from the writings of the greatest poets, which he used to determine the relative value of passages or poems which ...
Litmus is a water-soluble mixture of different dyes extracted from lichens. It is often absorbed onto filter paper to produce one of the oldest forms of pH indicator, used to test materials for acidity. In an acidic medium, blue litmus paper turns red, while in a basic or alkaline medium, red litmus paper turns blue. In short, it is a dye and ...
A useful litmus test involves replacing each of these basic terms with an approximation of other basic terms, e.g. replacing orange with red-yellow. If the approximation is jarring, the replaced term likely meets the requirement for being a basic color term. An example of a color that comes close to being a basic color term in English is ...
In politics, a purity test is a rigid standard on a specific issue by which a politician or other figure is compared. Purity tests are established to ensure that the subject maintains ideological purity with the ideas supported by a particular group, often a political party or one specific faction of a party.
The concept became viral online after a 2020 Internet meme which posits that shopping carts present a litmus test for a person's capability of self-control and governance, as well as a way to judge one's moral character. Detractors of the theory have cited various reasons why returning a cart is unfavorable, with concerns about leaving children ...