the.com/varnish
the glossy lie that makes old wood look forever young and freshly minted.
means A liquid coating that dries into a hard, clear, glossy film, used to protect and beautify wood and other surfaces.
from From Old French 'vernis', from Medieval Latin 'vernix', meaning a fragrant resin or 'odorous gum'. The deeper root is debated: one tempting story traces it to Berenice (Greek 'Berenike'), a city in Cyrenaica thought to trade in the resin, the name later softening through the Greek 'Bereniке' into 'vernix'. By the 18th century the word had stretched figuratively to mean any glossy outer show that hides what lies beneath.
- violin secret
- Stradivarius varnish recipes remain unsolved mysteries
- toxic past
- old varnishes used lead and arsenic freely
- bug origin
- shellac comes from secretions of lac insects
- web cache
- Varnish also names a popular HTTP accelerator
- slow dry
- some varnishes cure for weeks, not hours
shellac — natural resin varnish from lac beetle secretions, used since 1600s in wood finishing
polyurethane varnish — synthetic varnish developed in 1937, now standard for hardwood floor protection
dammar varnish — tree resin varnish from southeast asian dammar trees, traditional artist medium