olf n. a scientific measure of indoor odor intensity. Etymological Note: olfaction unit, from the Latin olfactus ‘the action or capacity of smelling; the sense of smell.’ Coined by Danish scientist Povl Ole Fanger in 1987. The first cite is his presentation of the term and its meaning to the scientific community. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Mark in Bismarck, North Dakota, spent years as a sailor, and wonders about the term sea painter, meaning “a rope attached to a lifeboat.” Why painter? The word may derive from Middle French pendeur meaning “a kind of rope that...
Samantha Harvey’s novel Orbital is a sensuous, exhilarating meditation about the strangeness of life on a space station, with its mix of tedious tasks and jaw-dropping views. And: a musician who rode the rails in his youth shares the slang he...