Wednesday, April 25, 2012

A to Z Challenge: V - Viscous

Viscous

So much more fun to say and write than thick, viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by either shear or tensile stress (from Wikipedia), but like any great word, it can be applied poetically to mean many more varied and interesting things.

vis·cous [vis-kuhs] adj. having a thick, sticky consistency between solid and liquid; having high viscosity

Synonyms: sticky, viscid, glutinous, gluey, adhesive, gummy, syrupy

Etymology: late 14c., from Anglo-Fr. viscous, from L.L. viscosus "sticky," from L. viscum "anything sticky, birdlime made from mistletoe, mistletoe," probably from PIE root *weis- "to melt away, flow" (used of foul or malodorous fluids); see virus.

34 comments:

Huntress said...

Love that word. It has such a mental sound to it.

Old Kitty said...

For a split second my eyes read vicious! Then my brain spotted the extra s in place of the extra i. Ahem. I need coffee! Yay! x

Stina said...

Great, now I'm hungry, but it's too early to go down for breakfast. So now I'm going to be thinking of honey for the next hour and a half. Or Pooh Bear (my son's favorite and only stuffie). :)

Unknown said...

This was on one of my freshman chemistry tests! Oh good memories. You are so right that it is more fun than thick.

Just a Nice Girl

Zan Marie said...

Viscous, syrupy--makes me want pancakes this morning. ; )

A Daft Scots Lass said...

Every had someone drop honey in yer hair??

Unknown said...

I am on a diet and had to see this. My mouth was staring more at the pictures than at the post.

http://kdstormclutteredmind.blogspot.com/

DL Hammons said...

Whenever I see that word I mentally think vicious, which lead me to wonder why it was more fun to say than thick. Oops! :)

Dani said...

That word has always reminds me of kissing. I have no idea why. Weird.

farawayeyes said...

That pesky little 'i' had me all confused (not a hard thing to do) also. Viscosity is a great word to say, but hard to work into a sentence in 'regular' conversation.

Slamdunk said...

I feel ready to go work under the car hood now Matthew.

I hope the draft goes well for your Fins.

Claire Hennessy said...

Great word that conjures up completely different images to the word 'thick' for which I think Duh!

Mina Burrows said...

Great word. It reminds me of when my lip gloss goes bad. Damn.

Lynn Proctor said...

making me want some honey on my toast!

Nancy Thompson said...

Ha! I thought the word was vicious at first. Viscous is so much better. Always makes think of motor oil commercials, how old oil loses its viscosity over time, becoming thin & less effective. I actually used this one in my book, but it pertained to blood.

Cassie Mae said...

At first, I thought the pic was a glass full of viscous liquid. I'm like, uh.. what the heck are you drinking???

Sarah Ahiers said...

Is that honey in that picture? Because now i totally want some honey

Donna K. Weaver said...

I think this word was used to describe that liquid the guy in The Abyss had to inhale instead of air. Still gives me the creeps to think of doing that.

Carol Riggs said...

Great V word! and great word in general. I love words like that. :) "Birdlime made from mistletoe"? LOL Interesting.

Nick Wilford said...

Very heavy-sounding word. I like this one!

Anonymous said...

Mmm...honey.
Mmm...molasses.

Eric W. Trant said...

As a Chemical Engineer, viscosity (and sheer and tensile stress) are right-at-home words for me. I used to run the viscosity tests for motor oil at the Mobil plant in Beaumont (which is now Exxon-Mobil).

You measure it with, what else, a viscometer. Lord, I looked up viscosity on Wiki, and I understand and have drawn all those charts, and used those wicked-looking equations.

Just the other day I was explaining Newtonian Flow to my brother.

Bingham plastic, Newtonian flow, Shiner Bock Beer, 6th street, Reactor Design final the next morning hungover and still half-drunk.

Good times in Austin.

- Eric

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Excellent description for honey.

Rick Daley said...

I'm with DL...I always seem to misread this as vicious.

jp@A Green Ridge said...

Yes...honey and molasses! I'm feeling a little hungry right now... can you tell?...:)JP

Andrew Leon said...

That's another great word. You have certainly been picking words that are fun to say!

Andrew Leon said...

That's another great word. You have certainly been picking words that are fun to say!

Anonymous said...

GREAT word. Thanks for visiting my blog and for playing in the a to z challenge.

Christine Rains said...

Such a fun word to say. It sticks to your tongue!

Pat Tillett said...

Without viscosity, honey would just be a sweet liquid. With it, it's heaven...

Kelly Polark said...

Ha, much cooler word than thick!
And probably useful word in my next Words with Friends game!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Matthew .. great word - and so describes the thick gloopy honey like syrup that slides out ..

Viscous says it all really - cheers Hilary

Leslie S. Rose said...

I'm having a chemistry lab flashback.

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

There are people whose entire job is to check the viscosity of ketchup.