The material on a match-stick

[Tom]

Hi

Could you please tell me the spicific name of the material (that we burn by striking) at the end of a match-stick?

1- The ----------of the match-stick was wet, therefore, it could not be lighted!

Tom

[Conchita]

Wow, what a comeback, Tom – you’ve been busy as a bee!

I think it’s sulphur, but am not quite sure. What I do know for certain is that breathing it in is unhealthy.

[Torsten]

So, which do you prefer – the match stick was lighted or the match stick was lit?[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: Enjoying a boat ride[YSaerTTEW443543]

[Conchita]

@Torsten

So, which do you prefer – the match stick was lighted or the match stick was lit?

I always use ‘lit’ as the past tense and past participle of the verb ‘to light’.

[Tom]

M.Swan suggests that lighted is better as the third form of a verb whereas lit is better as an adjective.

1- The candles have been lighted.
2- Dimly-lit rooms.

What is your opinion?

Tom

[Yankee]

Hi Tom

I wouldn’t worry about the specific material at all. Instead I’d say:

The head of the matchstick was wet, therefore, it could not be lit/lighted! 8)

By the way, check your spelling:

specific

Amy

[Conchita]

Here’s a bit more on matches:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match

du.edu/~jcalvert/phys/phosphor.htm

In 1669 the Hamburg merchant and alchemist Hennig Brandt heated the residue from evaporating urine with powdered charcoal, and condensed the vapor that was evolved into a waxy solid. This solid glowed in the dark, without heat, an astonishing phenomenon. He called the mysterious substance phosphorus, taken directly from the Greek phosphoros, “light-bringer.” This was also the name of the planet Venus as morning star, “Lucifer” in Latin. The discovery created quite a stir, and soon nobody was throwing away urine. Travelling alchemists amazed royal audiences, and it was the talk of the time. A normal person excretes about a gram of phosphorus daily.
(…)
In 1845, A. Schr?tter of Vienna discovered how to prepare red phosphorus, which is insoluble and nonpoisonous. Phosphorus sulphide could now be prepared safely from red phosphorus. Today’s matches are made with pine sticks impregnated with ammonium phosphate to discourage afterglow, and impregnated with paraffin wax for easy burning. The heads of “strike-anywhere” matches are a mixture of potassium chlorate and sulphur or rosin, held together with glue. On the tip is a mixture of P4S3 and pulverized glass for friction.

Those ‘strike-anywhere’ matches (which I’ve never found in my part of the world) must be like the ones used by cowboys in the old westerns – they often struck them on the soles of their boots in a typically nonchalant manner. 8)