I've googled, of course, and found this on pbs.org: CS, which stands for 0-chlorobenzalmalononitrile ... which makes no sense as there is no S in the chemical name. I also found that it was discovered by by Corson and Stoughton, which might explain the name. But I've not found a site that confirms that. You would think that somebody would say why it's called CS gas.
// It was discovered by two Americans, Ben Corson and Roger Stoughton,[5] at Middlebury College in 1928, and the chemical's name is derived from the first letters of the scientists' surnames.[6][7]//
// It was discovered by two Americans, Ben Corson and Roger Stoughton,[5] at Middlebury College in 1928, and the chemical's name is derived from the first letters of the scientists' surnames.[6][7]//
It was discovered by two Americans, Ben Corson and Roger Stoughton,[5] at Middlebury College in 1928, and the chemical's name is derived from the first letters of the scientists' surnames.[6][7]
From the Oxford English Dictionary's website:
"the initials of B. B. Corson (b. 1896) and R. W. Stoughton (1906–57), American chemists who discovered its properties in 1928"