What it means
نقطه جوش (noqte-ye jush) literally means the point of boiling: نقطه (noqte) is Arabic for point, and جوش (jush) is Persian, meaning boiling or a boil. Together they name the boiling point, the temperature at which a liquid turns to vapor. Water’s boiling point is 100 degrees Celsius at sea level. Iranians use the phrase just as freely in figurative speech to describe the moment a person’s patience runs out or a situation becomes explosive. A close synonym for the literal chemistry sense is دمای جوش (damâ-ye jush), meaning boiling temperature.
How to use it
- نقطه جوش آب صد درجهست. (Noqte-ye jush-e âb sad daraje-st.) “The boiling point of water is one hundred degrees.”
- به نقطه جوشم رسیدم. (Be noqte-ye jush-am residam.) “I have reached my boiling point.”
- نقطه جوش الکل از آب پایینتره. (Noqte-ye jush-e alkol az âb pâyin-tareh.) “The boiling point of alcohol is lower than that of water.”
- اوضاع داره به نقطه جوش میرسه. (Owzâ’ dâre be noqte-ye jush mirese.) “The situation is reaching its boiling point.”
Cultural note
The figurative use of نقطه جوش is very common in Persian conversation and journalism when describing moments of social tension or personal frustration. The metaphor of boiling, جوش زدن, is deeply embedded in Persian idiom. جوش زدن also means to break out in pimples or to weld metal, reflecting the many senses of جوش (heat, bubbling, joining under pressure) that the language has developed around this vivid root. In school chemistry lessons across Iran, نقطه جوش is one of the first technical terms students encounter.