On a hot afternoon many years ago, a trainee editor walked in with furrowed brow and deposited the following offending sentence in my lap: “Argon gas is usually passed through the outer tube, which creates a Venturi effect and sucks the liquid up through the inner capillary tube.” I read it through once, and looked at her quizzically. “What sucks?” she asked. I could see her point. Effects don’t suck. Could the outer tube suck? Do gases suck? I thought of waterspouts. The blu