Glutinous reminded me of "glut". It is related to Latin glutare, to swallow, and when you; got
more than you can swallow, you've got a glut. And in case you've forgotten "deglutition"
is the medical word for "swallowing".

in case you've forgotten "deglutition" is the medical word for "swallowing".

Not the sort of thing I would have been likely to forget until now. Thanks, Dr. Bill.

Dear Faldage: The principal reason I remember "deglutition" is experience in a Radiology clinic
where I was eager beaver enough to swallow almost a gallon of barium contrast medium so
manicky intstructor could give a spiel about the how the glottis and epiglottis keep food
from entering the trachea. A couple brownnosers kept asking questions, so I had to swallow
enough barium I thought my stomach was going to herniate out my anal orifice, it was so
heavy. For several days thereafter stools hit water in bowl with explosive force. I could tell
when the last of it left. PLONK, PLONK,PLONK.....plink,plink,plink.

Like I said, Dr. Bill, up until now I haven't had the opportunity to forget deglutition. Now that I *do have that opportunity, I shall avail myself of it as soon as possible.

Dear Faldage: Thanks to your reflexes ensuring that your epiglottis is
held firmly against entrance to your trachea when you swallow,
you can forget the word deglutition. But getting something
"down the wrong way" can be a truly memorable experience.

From the derived Indo-European root GEL, which meant to form into
a ball, to stick or cling, or to be thick and sticky, we have inherited
at least 239 modern English words, including the following:

From Old-Middle English - clump, clod, clot, clasp,
clamp, cling, clench, clutch, claw
From Latin - glue, gluten, glutinous, agglutination
From Greek - gluteus, ganglion (a nerve-like bundle),
neuroglia