Plastic deformation Memes

Engineering students having existential crises in Materials Science 101! The maddening paradox: metals (like steel) exhibit elastic behavior when they return to shape after stress, while "plastic" materials undergo plastic deformation (permanent changes). Meanwhile, the material called "plastic" isn't even technically displaying plastic behavior until it breaks! No wonder we're all screaming into our textbooks at 3AM. It's like calling a fish "wings" and a bird "gills"!