Not really. If you look at a periodic table, the vast majority actually are metals.
The vast majority are metals, and saying they all are is wrong (except in as much as authority within the clique is able to redefine such things). It’s also distasteful and lazy to formalise the misuse. I’d be embarassed if I were an astronomer.
Well, Wiktionary claims “metal” used to mean “to mine” a few thousand years ago, so I can’t blame them that much. The astronomers at least didn’t mess up the pronunciation again :-)
The vast majority are metals, and saying they all are is wrong (except in as much as authority within the clique is able to redefine such things). It’s also distasteful and lazy to formalise the misuse. I’d be embarassed if I were an astronomer.
Well, Wiktionary claims “metal” used to mean “to mine” a few thousand years ago, so I can’t blame them that much. The astronomers at least didn’t mess up the pronunciation again :-)