Just got an email from a geologist in Wallace. And it reminded me of a story.

When my sister-in-law the accountant was in college, she took an intro-level geology course.

The professor had a pretty strong accent. So when he said the word "develop" my sister-in-law thought he was saying "devil up."

She assumed this must be some geology lingo. And you know, it does sort of sound like it could be.

"Over millions of years, the tectonic plates would slide past the magma and devil up as an overbelt extrusion."

Or something.

Anyway, when she wrote her first paper (or maybe it was in answering questions on a quiz) she used the expression "devil up."

Naturally, the professor was baffled. I don't recall adults saying "WTF" in the 1970s, but he managed to convey his puzzlement on the paper.

So, as I recall the story, my sister-in-law spoke to him. They cleared up the confusion. And "devil up," a wonderfully descriptive bit of scientific nomenclature, was retired forever.

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