Re: Help with collocations, please

On Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:03:16 +0200, Tom P
<tombnbnb@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> said:

> Woody Wordpecker wrote:

[...]

> > acid test
> Is that a litmus test?

See http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acid%20test
,
where it will tell you that an acid test is a severe or
crucial test, and that the term was first attested in 1912.

But the _New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary_ says that
while an "acid-test" is figuratively a crucial test, it's
also a test for gold that involves nitric acid.