Tuesday, April 10, 2012

A to Z Challenge: I - Ichor

Ichor

I've always pictured ichor as the slightly venomous saliva that drips from the fangs of creatures like Orcs, Goblins, Ogres and so forth, but it actually has a broader scope than that.

Still, any word that gives me an excuse to use an image from The Lord of the Rings is pretty dope.

i·chor [ˈī-ˌkȯr, -kər] n. 1. Greek Mythology The rarefied fluid said to run in the veins of the gods
2. Pathology A watery, acrid discharge from a wound or ulcer

Synonyms: (there are, of course, none for the primary definition) sanies, suppuration, festering, purulence, pus

Etymology: 1630s, from Gk. ikhor, of unknown origin, possibly from a non-I.E. language. The fluid that serves for blood in the veins of the gods. Related: Ichorous.

65 comments:

farawayeyes said...

OK, not one of my favorite words. Rather icky.

mindthagap said...

Nice word! It's fun to say. :)

Rebecca said...

interesting word

Emily White said...

I now must use this in daily conversation. Thank you!

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

I've learnt a new word today, Thank you.

Yvonne.

Laurita said...

Very icky, but a great word.

Cursed Armada said...

I feel like if I were to use this word then I would be pretentious lol. Then again maybe it's my black glasses that give off that vibe;)

Natalie Aguirre said...

Such an interesting word.

Tonja said...

Kind of disgusting when combined with the picture.

Zan Marie said...

Another great word, Matthew!

Unknown said...

"Acrid discharge from a wound or ulcer." Ewww! Great word, yo! I'm learning so much. :)

Rick Daley said...

I'm going to have a tough time trying to work this one into a sentence today...

Unknown said...

Gross. I like it!

Elizabeth Seckman said...

Sounds like a great villain name.

A Daft Scots Lass said...

and Circe turned men into swine

Dani said...

Ah, LOTR! That's exactly what I would have pictured when thinking of this word. Putrid or maybe FETID smelling.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure it doesn't shock you to know that I knew that was the Mouth of Sauron just by the tiny image in my phone's version of Google Reader.

cleemckenzie said...

I'm totally distracted by the image. I'm glad it's morning and I'm not getting ready to go to bed, which I wouldn't be after seeing that thorny-headed, bloody-toothed, creepy critter. The word definitely fits!

Loved the synonyms. *Shudder, shake!*

JEM said...

Fantastic word. Also: purulence. I love words that sound as disgusting as the thing they're describing.

Bish Denham said...

It's just plain icky! Icky Ichor... that would make for an interesting character.

Nancy Thompson said...

Blech! That's kind of gross! Good thing I haven't eaten breakfast yet. And who knew there was a word for all that? Well, you obviously, duh. Man, I wouldn't stand a chance against you at Words With Friends!

Sarah Ahiers said...

I have used Ichor before in my writing. It's such a great word. It seems to work really well with dragons, imop, for some reason

D.G. Hudson said...

That's enough to spoil the appetite, Matt! It probably applies to aliens with drooling mouths, too. (I didn't know that ichor was the blood of the mythological gods - so I've learned something.)

I'm assuming we don't want that stuff to touch us. . .

Thanks for the visit to my blog!

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

Oh man, so creepy.

I love the word dope. Keep using it.

Also, this A to Z blogging thing seems really hard. I would probably only manage 2 or 3 of the letters.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

And you did find a cool image.
Sorry, somehow I think I missed your post yesterday. Don't know what happened.

Author A.O. Peart said...

Disgusting to think of, but awesome for certain scenes, especially in fantasy or paranormal novels.

Old Kitty said...

I want some of this fluid please thank you! I'm pretty rarefied!
Ahem! take care
x

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

The MOUTH OF SAURON!!!!

Empty Nest Insider said...

Now I have to figure out how to use it in a sentence! Very unusual "I". Julie

LA Nickers said...

Ay-ay-ay! Scarry I post!

Visiting as an A to Z blogger.

All on Blogspot.com and all in the A to Z Challenge:

Heart of a Ready Writer – Bible & Devotional
Meme Express – Daily Blog Prompts (A to Z)
Nickers and Ink – Featuring favorite classic poems from A to Z
Practically at Home – See what fellow writers are cited – with article links!
The Mane Point –Profiling special horses from A to Z
Working in Words – Writing How-to’s

Click my name/icon for links to all these blogs! Happy A-to-Z!

Suze said...

Wow. One and two are pretty divergent.

Holly Michael said...

Gross but so cool!

Nicole said...

This is such a fun, uncomfortable, icky word! Totally underutilized. :)

Theresa Milstein said...

That's one awful being. I wouldn't want to run into an Ichor!

J.L. Campbell said...

This is the something new I've learned today. The word ichor for me has monstrous connotations.

Julie Jordan Scott said...

Ohmigoodness. Today is the day I am learning new and fascinatingly relevant to my life words! :~)

You rock... anyone who loves words this much is my kind of person!

Julie Jordan Scott
Fellow A to Z Challenge Writer
twitter: @juliejordanscot
I is for Ina Coolbrith
On a Mission to Spread Word-Love Throughout the World

Rusty Carl said...

Odd that it can refer to the blood of the gods - or to the discharge from an ulcer. I mean, that's really weird to me.

Unknown said...

Oh yuk, Matthew! I missed yesterday's post, rats! I can fit haberdasher into my WIP much easier than ichor...but I'll try....

Sara Hill said...

Yuck! But a wonderful word! Thanks!

Unknown said...

Okay, Matt, that image is freaking me out. Do not like!!!

Great word choice, though! =)

Lynn Proctor said...

wonderful vivid word!

Donna K. Weaver said...

That's what Anne McCaffrey called the blood equivalent that came out of the wings of injured dragons in her Dragonriders of Pern series.

Suzanne Lieurance said...

Ick. Not a word I ever use. I don't even like to think about it. :)

Sub Radar (Mike) said...

Definitely going to try and work this word into my daily conversations this week.

Unknown said...

Now that is an icky word...venomous saliva that drips from the fangs? Oh dear! ;)

Adrianne Russell said...

That is so creepy! I do love it though. :)

jp@A Green Ridge said...

EEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW! and a big old YUCKY, too!...:)JP

ediFanoB said...

It seems I missed a lot of words because I read books in Eglish since 2007.
Before I read tons of books in German.

And Lord of the Rings belong o the books I read in German only.

Anyway I learned a new word today.

Miranda Hardy said...

I learned something new today. I'll picture it as the blood of the gods. lol

The Armchair Squid said...

Blood of the gods. Awesome!

Jemi Fraser said...

Good word! Anne McCaffrey used it too - for the liquid in the wings of dragons - dripped/poured when they were injured. (IF my memory serves me correctly!) :)

ShaunaKelleyWrites said...

I love this word so much, but I've never been able to put my finger on why.

Kristen Pelfrey said...

Acrid discharge. So...real after the blood of the gods def.

Jessica Salyer said...

Didn't know this one, and I'm even a nurse.

Unknown said...

Not a fave word, but it does sound nice. :)

Eric W. Trant said...

Elixir of healing, yes, with a bottomless bag full of goodies, and, of course, the ubiquitous 50' rope

We always had two items: a knife, and a 50' rope.

Not much you can't do with those two things. Ever read Tarzan? He killed lions with as little.

But a little elixir would never have hurt.

- Eric

mshatch said...

ick.

Angela Brown said...

This word was much needed for me. I've been doing some idea bouncing in my head, a shiney idea involving gods, deaths and other factors. I think you've just given me one of the final things I need. Thank you so much!!!!!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Eeeeeew...but interesting. I do sort of like that word, too.

Shannon at The Warrior Muse, co-host of the 2012 #atozchallenge! Twitter: @AprilA2Z

Selim Yeniceri said...

Yikes!... Follow me at www.selimyeniceri.blogspot.com bro.

Sarah Tokeley said...

The first definition is awesome, the second, ah, not so much :-)

Bryan Russell said...

Gotta love the Mouth of Sauron.

Elaine L. Bridge said...

Perfect for the letter of the day!!!

Sean McLachlan said...

Strange mix of definitions. You'd think the blood of the gods would have healing properties or something. I wonder how it turned to something negative?
I never thought of orc drool as poisonous. Yet another reason not to French kiss an orc!

Unknown said...

Ooo, excellent choice! Great choice of photo too, the Mouth of Sauron is creepy.

Jamie
Fellow A-Z Buddy
Doing a monumental blog catch-up
Mithril Wisdom