acid tests
Prove-it-or-fail evaluations
Acid tests are decisive trials that reveal true quality or worth.
The term comes from testing gold with nitric acid—real gold resists the acid while imitations corrode.
Now used figuratively for any definitive proof: The acid test of a democracy is how it treats its minorities.
In medicine, acid tests check for LSD in the system.
- touchstoneStandard for evaluation
- benchmarkStandard for comparison
- gold standardMeasure of ultimate quality
- Grateful DeadLegendary jam band
- gaugeStandard of measurement
assays · criteria · moment of truth · quality control · Ken Kesey · trials · Summer of Love · trial by fire · evaluation · experimentation · crucible · proving ground · assessment · reagent · ordeal · true colors · titration · examination
- countercultureflower power, flower children, free love, hippie communes, Summer of Love
- mineralogycalcite, quartz, feldspar, mica, olivine
- Jam BandsGrateful Dead, Phish, jam, jams, extended jam
- LSDblotter, tabs, trip, microdot, windowpane
acid testsgut feelings
Intuitive sense without reasoning
guesswork · wild guesses · shots in the dark · ballpark figures · snap judgments
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