I was in the garage, loosening a stuck rusty garden hose nozzle, when I grabbed that familiar blue-and-yellow can of WD-40. As I sprayed, it hit me: I’ve been using this stuff for decades, but I had no idea what “WD-40” actually stood for.
We all say it without thinking—“Grab the WD-40”—like “Pass the salt” or “Turn it off and on again.” It’s part of the fixer-upper language. But the name? Completely mysterious. That curiosity led me down the rabbit hole.
