Turps is the everyday, casual name for turpentine — the strong-smelling liquid made from pine tree resin that painters use to thin oil paint and to clean brushes and hands afterwards. It is not a different substance from turpentine; it is the same thing said in a shorter, friendlier way, the way people say 'fridge' instead of 'refrigerator'. You hear it from people who actually work with the stuff: painters, decorators, art students, DIY people at home. On a shop label or in a safety warning you will usually see 'turpentine'; in a workshop somebody will just say 'pass me the turps'. It is uncountable — one bottle of turps, not 'a turps' or 'two turpses' — and although it ends in -s it takes a singular verb: 'the turps is finished'. It is much more common in British and Australian English than in American English. In Australia there is also an old joking use where 'on the turps' means drinking a lot of alcohol, but that is slang and your students do not need to use it — just do not be surprised if they meet it.

松節油（口語簡稱）。台灣美術社、油漆行的架上都寫「松節油」，沒有對應的口語縮寫，所以 turps 這個「親切版」的味道要靠情境理解——像我們說「冰箱」而不說全名那種隨口感。