The main use of liquid paraffin in the UK is as a laxative. That's what it is made for and what the pharmacy would sell it for. If it's sold for anything else, it's the wrong stuff. That sold for human consumption is the proper stuff - if it says not to be taken, it's for the car. Funnily enough, mineral oil is for car engines here and is a natural oil as opposed to synthetic oil which is man-made or for oiling locks etc. Of course, paraffin (sold for burning in a stove) in the USA is kerosene so liquid kerosene would, I presume, still be the stuff one would put in a camp stove or heater. Confusing or what? Colin Hill ----- Original Message ----- From: "Arle Lommel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2006 4:43 PM Subject: Re: [HG] Cleaning your wheel
> I ran into the issue of "paraffin oil" in the book on the Hungarian > HG I translated for Balázs Nagy. It turned out that similar > ambiguities existed in Hungarian as well, not just in English. What > we finally decided is that the stuff Balázs was referring to was what > we call mineral oil in the U.S., and that he wanted it to be distinct > from any sort of motor oil or other such substance that could damage > plastics over time... But paraffin oil or liquid paraffin are bad > terms because they can actually refer, as Colin points out, to petrol/ > gasoline, mineral oil, liquified candle wax, refined petroleum > distillates used as lubricants, and kerosene. Even within the U.K., > the terms are ambiguous, and when you include other English-speaking > countries, it gets only worse. > > -Arle > > > Funny, we had a discussion on the Northumbrian pipers list some > > time ago > > regarding liquid paraffin as an oil for the chanters and the > > confusion that > > causes - everything from petrol (gasoline) to candle wax. > >
