Definitions
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Examples
“Because of the length of the story, Mana was a bit more fleshed out and applied some real world logic creating a type of fantastic phlebotinum.”
“In the context of this story, all this biblical gobbledygook is just phlebotinum and technobabble.”
“It also doesn't help that Clarence Gilyard stumbles through the phlebotinum, at one point citing "Daniel 9, chapter 27.”
“Again, Miracle's adventure unravels by having a phlebotinum do all the work of his escape, rather than using Miracle's dexterity or cunning.”
“I believe the spiders’ DNA was made of phlebotinum, which made the spiders themselve radioactive.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘phlebotinum’.
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Not in the Periodic Table
Words that sound like they might be the names of elements of the periodic table, but that aren't. Many of the words listed here were actually proposed as names for substances their creators thought...
tentorium, columbarium, nasturtium, deuterium, caladium, valerian, concordium, synangium, chorium, geranium, hymenium, pyrenium and 310 more...
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bluecoffeemug's list
a random sampling of words i find notable
troglodyte, mensch, wiggins, croquembouche, schistosomiasis, phlebotinum, mixy
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What superheroes are made of
Or, sci-fi invented elements
Tweets
Looking for tweets for phlebotinum.
hernesheir Ha! good one for the not in the periodic table list, chrissykp! Oct 27, 2011
seanahan Aluminum is actually correct, since it is from alumina, and this is the way it is used in America. This was the original name. At some point, everyone in England decided that they preferred aluminium, probably because most of the other elements ended in "ium". Isaac Asimov wrote an interesting essay on this exact topic, which I found enjoyable. Asimov was actually a pretty big etymology buff, having written several books about words. Oct 24, 2007
arby Wait, what? So aluminium = aluminia? I am sooooo confused.
Agree re: MacGuffin. Oct 24, 2007
seanahan also, see MacGuffin Oct 18, 2007
seanahan Actually, that's not true. It should be "um" everywhere. The reason things ended in "ium" is that the word that were adapted from ended in "ya". Oct 18, 2007
arby According to TV Tropes:
Phlebotinum is the magical substance that may be rubbed on almost anything to cause an effect needed by a plot. Some examples: nanotechnology, magic crystal emanations, pixie dust, a sonic screwdriver. Oh, and Green Rocks.
CSI and its spinoffs come with gallons of phlebotinum. Their favorite kind appears to be Luminol, the substance that reveals traces of blood by glowing when traces of iron from the blood catalyzes its breakdown. Luminol is real, though.
According to Joss Whedon, during the DVD commentary for the pilot episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the term "phlebotinum" originates from David Greenwalt's (a writer and director on Buffy and later co-creator of Angel) sudden outburst, "Don't touch the phlebotinum!" apropos of nothing.
Note: Outside America it should properly be known as "Phlebotinium". Oct 17, 2007