Little Johnny took a drink but now will drink no more
For what he thought was H2O was H2SO4
this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2026
1002 points (100.0% liked)
Science Memes
20944 readers
1017 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
Neat, I've never seen that version before. The one I know is:
Johnny was a chemist's son
but Johnny is no more.
What Johnny thought was H2O
was H2SO4.
Fun fact: unlike some other site that shall not be named, Lemmy's markdown can do subscripts!
Little Johnny took a drink
but now will drink no more
For what he thought was H~2~O
was H~2~SO~4~
> Little Johnny took a drink
> but now will drink no more
> For what he thought was H~2~O
> was H~2~SO~4~
Really? It's the squiggly to make subscript? I thought that was used for strike through?
Two squiggles for ~~strikethrough~~; one squiggle for ~subscript~; and no squiggle for you!
Strikethrough is ~~double-tilde~~ double-squiggly.
where's the reference for these?
I don't think it's complete, though; some you just have to discover for yourself (or guess from familiarity with Markdown on other platforms).
ah , seems my client has some helpful shortcuts
cool ~stuff.~
Strong acids are weak, you'd notice the boiling acid flavor and spit it out with the rest of your mouth lining right away.
Doubt you'd die from drinking a bit of sulphuric acid, probably would spit it out as soon as you notice your tongue is burning anyway.
you could still get badly hurt if you swallow faster than you can spit it out
Johnny was a corporate stooge,
but Johnny's words untrue;
what Johnny sold as H2O
was H2O4U.
Johnny knew not water
For he forgot vater
My father is he who speaks through me
And thus I express simply
That ain't water I just drank
It's getting dark, I'm gunna have one last wank
Is H~2~O~4~U chemically possibly? I feel like you could make a chain out of the oxygens and put hydrogen at both ends but I don't hear anything more that O~3~
Not as written. But uranyl peroxide is a thing.
There’s UO~4~·4(H~2~O) studtite and UO~4~·2(H~2~O) metastudtite
This is what i missed about old reddit the most.
Love it 😘
Is H2O4U actually possible to synthesize? Is it stable?
Would it be a liquid at any reasonable temperatures?
Tetraoxidane (H2O4) is very unstable by itself, and I doubt adding a uranium into the mix would stabilize it
Hm... I'm guessing that adding Uranium to that would make it quickly oxidize, and instead of H2O4U, you'd get mostly U3O8 (the most stable Uranium oxide) and a bunch of H2O and Hydrogen gas.
And a lot of heat. If I had to guess, I'd bet on that being a... "rather energetic" exothermic reaction.
What is heat but shaken atoms?
Surely if you shook the bottle well, the ingredients would recombine like a vinaigrette, and the intended flavor could be appreciated.
Refreshing!
No way to know until you try
no way to know but a good way to guess
By counting valence electrons?
Sounds like a good NileRed video
I wonder if there's any Uranium-containing compoud that would be safe(ish) to drink... (In small amounts, of course.)
It would have to be something that holds onto the Uranium atoms very tightly and also passes right through you without getting absorbed. Hmm... But the radiation aspect is always going to be a problem. No matter what other atoms it's bonded to, Uranium will still be emitting a bit of alpha radiation -- no big deal when it's outside you since the outer layers of skin block most of it, but when it's inside you, there's nothing to block that radiation from damaging the cells of your digestive tract.
Read that in his voice
Wouldn't that be uranic dihydrogen peroxide?
I'm pretty sure dioxide peroxide is not a thing.
Listen here, you piece of shit, the original image is h2o4u which reads as water for you. Stop inventing words
Something something H2SO4
I'll boof that ish if you will
Awww, the redditor by the name TheZyde understood the joke!