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Comment by rustcleaner | Hacker News Reader

I expect such lively news to make this comment section the powerhouse of the front page. :^)

It's funny that this phrase has had such staying strength, while the key word in it, "powerhouse," has fallen out of fashion. The more modern American English way to phrase it would be "the power plant of the cell."

Can you describe the distinction?

Distinction: I am a millennial, and actually had to go look up just now what a "powerhouse" is. I am familiar with the term in its metaphorical sense, but was heretofore unacquainted with the literal definition. "Power plant" or "power station" would, yes, be more immediately understood by my generation. The phrase "Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell" would read to modern children like saying "The mitochondrion is the rock star of the cell."

These things do happen. I was in my 30s before I learned what the "firewall" of a car was...

Anecdotally, I feel like I've heard "powerhouse" used somewhat regularly when describing impressive people, i.e.: "Such-and-such is an absolute powerhouse on the field", or "That person is so productive, they're a powerhouse".

So maybe the original usage has been subsumed by "power plant", but I think the word has alternative meanings which persist.

I’m pretty sure people still talk about powerhouses of hydroelectric dams

That's an interesting thought, I haven't picked up on it but you're right. Most of my associations with powerhouse are from trails or ares that used to have powerhouses and now have empty buildings, ruins or traces left over. I do think about powerhouses in the context of dams but that is likely leftover from an earlier time.

It kind of just shifted distinctions.

Powerhouse is a common way to describe an athlete, a high performance engine, or a very strong stock buy -- it has just moved away from the infrastructural uses.

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