A physics professor and his assistant are working on liberating negatively charged hydroxyl ions, when all of a sudden, the assistant says, "Wait, Professor! What if the salicylic acids do not accept the hydroxyl ions?" And the professor responds, "That's no hydroxyl ion! That's my wife!"
-Joke from Dexter's Laboratory
I've always wanted to understand this joke, from many years ago. @___@;;;
I was reminded of this joke today when we talked about hydroxyls in biology and chemistry.
To liberate is to set free. The point of this joke is that it's saying that a negatively charged hydroxyl ion is equivalent to a professor's wife. Hydroxyls, which contain at least one hydroxide (-OH), are alcohols. Does the joke mean the wife is drunk?
I then researched salicyclic acids and I found out that salicyclic acid is a plant hormone used as a medicine for acne. More importantly, it is a carboxylic acid. We learned in biology today that an ester linkage is formed between a carboxyl and a hydroxyl, and in this case, salicylic acid and hydroxyl ions create aspirin, the pain reliever.
Now isn't that cool? ;)
Lastly, the hydroxyl ion is NEGATIVELY charged, so the wife has had an excess of alcohol.
Basically, therefore, the professor was only trying to give some aspirin to his wife, who has a hangover.
ROTFLMAO.
Source.