50 Words for Mud

[Sean Ryan]

According to legend, the Inuit have about 50 words for snow. I bet cavers can come up with 50 words for mud.

BOOT EATER: Thick gloppy at least six inches thick that forms a vacuum when you step into it. You need to twist your foot to break the seal and get out, or you'll be stepping out of it minus one shoe.

WD 40: Thin, watery mud that actually makes a crawl easier by letting you slide along the ground like a bobsled. Almost never where you need it.

PAPIER MACHE: Dried mud that takes the shape of rocks in untravelled parts of caves. You find out that these are not genuine rocks at the exact moment you put enough weight on them to unbalance you.

[cob]

gunky-build-up.... you can imagine why. We have even invented tools to deal with it.

[bigalpha]

sludge: the thick, sticky, nasty, smelly mud that seems to always be where you are.

[wendy]

exfoliating mud = the kind of mud that when it dries on your arms, pulls all the hair out.

bubble wrap mud = the mud that makes the crackling boot sucking sounds when you walk thru it

peanut butter mud = mud that sticks to everything

[ian mckenzie]

thixotropic...

[Grandpa Caver]

Jeez, I can't believe it was'nt first on the list...SUCKMUD.

That stuff can remove boots, roll them socks right off and go to work on yer skin if ya aint out of it by then. I seem to have a knack for finding it from here to Missouri (where it's specially sucky) and so well known as "suckmud" it oughta be in the dictionary!

BTW: I once got in it over my knees. Got my boots back but they were'nt on my feet. The socks held on only just long enough.

[Grandpa Caver]

On a second look I see, the same diabolical mud actually was first on the list, just by a different name. I really hate that stuff.

[Dan Sullivan]

Puppy Poo

[Cheryl Jones]

Play-Dough

[NZcaver]

It's not *technically* mud, but...
QUICKPOO - looks like very fine mud, sucks you down like quicksand, but smells like poo.

(I also mentioned this phenomenon in the quicksand thread http://www.caves.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.p ... 6&start=15)

[EDIT - that link no longer works. Our administrator deleted it while sweeping away the non-caving threads.]

By the way, Cheryl deserves the credit for naming this substance...

[Cheryl Jones]

Ooze. (Between puppy poo and WD40)

Glop. (Wet and not yet peanut butter, and makes a "glop glop" sound when you walk through it but doesn't suck off your boots)

[Amocholes]

Slime - Almost but not quite liquid

[Lynn]

Chocolate Orgasm

[Andy Shoun]

bubblegum

[hewhocaves]

I prefer words that convery the impression of the mud. Thus, mud can be either sklorpy or slurgid - but never both. Sometimes, it can become downright mhippy, at which point you'll need either a hand line or crampons.

The noun forms, btw:
sklorpy -- sklorp.
slugid -- slurg.
mhippy -mhip