What does an atomizer spray?

Question

What does an atomizer spray? A spritz? A drop? Something else? I'm helping a friend write marketing copy, and we'd like to give the instruction "spray two drops onto your hand", and we would especially like to avoid the comical "spray two spritzes".

Edit: the substance in question is essential oil.

I think this will be a tough one. I'd stay with "Spray twice onto your hand," but I'll keep my ears open for something better. — emsoff, Jan 22 '14 at 04:50
No problem :) Plus, it's always good to save a fee characters in copy. — emsoff, Jan 22 '14 at 05:09
"Spray two pumps of the atomiser onto your hand"? In this case the "pumps" is not a word for what is being sprayed but instead a "two pumps of the atomiser" is a description for how you are to spray it onto your hand. — starsplusplus, Jan 22 '14 at 11:42
Definitely not a drop, anyway. It sprays thousands of tiny droplets so "drop" wouldn't be right. I'm not sure what's wrong with "two spritzes"? — starsplusplus, Jan 22 '14 at 11:44
What you call it and what you use are different. It's called 'mist' (or very colloquially spritz). But what you use is "Spray some on your wrist." — Mitch, Jan 22 '14 at 20:47

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 22 '14 at 20:38

Well, I'd like to say rather pointedly, that drop is roughly the antithesis of the product of an atomizer, since that implies a condensed, single state of matter, whereas an atomizer disperses, or nebulizes, whatever liquid it contains.

I would say most generally, that your sentence structure being changed may open you to better options.

"Apply two squeezes of the PRODUCTNAME to your palm"

If it's truly an atomizer, and not a perfume, and you're spraying your hand with it, I have to imagine it's being used to be applied to something else or if you're testing a smaller application than the atomizer would generally administer, you could lightly touch the nozzle and squeeze, to dab yourself with the resulting drops, since they would be condensed in this case.

But for straight nouns that fit an atomizer's product, as you say spray, mist, spritz, squeeze, pump, puff (though not quite connotatively modern), squirt, application, administration, dose(though better if medicinal in some sense), cloud (a stretch), or a sample.

The liquid is an oil, which in this case doesn't fully nebulize. But your exact point was raised by a customer, which is what brought me here. Alas, there is very limited room on the marketing brochure, so options for rewording are constrained. I think the problem with "apply two squeezes to your palm" is that it could read as "squeeze your palm". Perhaps "onto" would do the trick. Either way, thank you for your answer! — jimmy_joyce, Jan 22 '14 at 21:03
The device this cook uses to spray olive oil on pans is called a Misto http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=misto&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=30999018085&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=235738932489001943&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_56p73kflxv_b. It's not a drop or a squeeze that comes out, it's a mist. — Wayfaring Stranger, Jan 22 '14 at 23:45

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 22 '14 at 06:10

-1

There indeed are options, words that may be precise and/or technically accurate. However, I would suggest a more down to earth easily understood common word like droplet.

noun: droplet; plural droplets

1. a very small drop of a liquid.
droplets of water
(Google definitions)

spray two droplets onto your hand

answered Jan 22 '14 at 06:10

Kris

37,386

2

The OP wants to express the idea of squirting the atomiser twice. "Droplets" is the right word for what comes out, but with one pump thousands of droplets come out. Saying "spray two droplets onto your hand" makes no sense. – starsplusplus Jan 22 '14 at 11:46
@starsplusplus What really is your issue? Please check your understanding of the question one more time. Wait till you are clear about it before down voting. Meanwhile, check this out: https://www.google.com/#q=%22spray+a+few+droplets%22 – Kris Jan 22 '14 at 14:51
It's hard to tell if "droplet" specifies an exact size, other than "tiny", so I guess it's reasonable. As for the truly miniscule things that are emitted, I might go with "particles", but there doesn't seem to be a clearly correct way to go. I had considered "droplet" to be synonymous with "drop", but on 2nd thought, there might be a beneficial connotation with the former. Thank you @Kris for your answer. – jimmy_joyce Jan 22 '14 at 20:54
1

While you could reasonably write spray droplets twice, I agree with the earlier comment that two droplets is entirely the wrong way to describe two sprays. – Bradd Szonye Jan 22 '14 at 21:03
1

@Kris I actually agre with starplusplus here that to say "spray two droplets onto your hand" makes no sense. Nor can I find a good construction using droplets for the intended use. If it were only one pump, then sure, but how do you tell a person to pump twice without making it sound contrived? Also, no need to get so defensive. Downvotes happen, relax a bit. – Doc Jan 22 '14 at 21:04
@BraddSzonye I was not referring to "two sprays" at all. If that was the question, then it's a different matter. The OP could have clarified. – Kris Jan 23 '14 at 06:08
@Doc Same as above. I do not read the Q as "two pumps". – Kris Jan 23 '14 at 06:09
1

In that case, I think you've misunderstood the question, as “two spritzes” and the OP’s interactions with other posters indicate that he's talking about two sprays. – Bradd Szonye Jan 23 '14 at 06:11
@BraddSzonye Have you seen the OP's comment on this answer? However, I think the Q/ the OP is unclear about the whole thing. – Kris Jan 23 '14 at 06:27

What does an atomizer spray?

2 Answers2