the.com/sticky
the molecular handshake that refuses to let go, even when you beg it to.
means Tending to adhere, cling, or hold fast to surfaces — or by extension, awkwardly difficult to escape, as in a sticky situation.
from From 'stick,' the Old English 'stician,' meaning to pierce, stab, or remain fixed in place — a verb with Germanic cousins (compare Dutch 'steken,' German 'stechen'). The same root gives us the thorn that 'sticks' in your skin and the twig you call a 'stick.' The '-y' suffix turns the verb into a quality, so 'sticky' is literally the state of being prone to staying put. The figurative sense — a sticky problem, a sticky end — grew naturally from the image of something you simply cannot peel yourself away from.
- gecko trick
- Lizards stick using van der Waals forces, no glue
- honey forever
- Never spoils; archaeologists ate 3000-year-old tomb honey
- post-it accident
- Born from a failed super-strong adhesive in 1968
- spider silk
- Glue droplets stretch like elastic to trap prey
sticky rice — glutinous rice staple of southeast asia, especially thailand and laos, where it's eaten with nearly every meal
sticky situation — common phrase meaning difficult predicament, popularized in everyday english idiom