As thick as treacle
Peter Childs, University of Limerick, investigates words in chemistry.
A number of common words are used to describe the thickness or thinness of a liquid. A liquid can be syrupy or treacly, meaning that it flows with difficulty and both words describe the behaviour of concentrated sugar solutions - syrup and treacle. One of the joys of eating porridge is to allow a spoonful of syrup to trickle lazily down from the spoon onto the porridge, tracing patterns on the surface.
The milk does not behave like this because it has a low viscosity.
The word viscous comes from the Latin word viscum, which means something sticky, a word easily attached to treacle...
Join Peter Childs as he explores the words surrounding treacle and liquid thickness.
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