Re: USAGE: YAEUT: "Molten" vs. "Melted"

On Tue, Oct 14, 2008 at 2:38 PM, R A Brown <ray@...> wrote:
> I'd say it's got a lot going for it in this case - and if you add that
> "molten" things are (normally) mineral, you not likely to go seriously wrong
> IMO.
Normally, but not exclusively.  The phrase "molten plastic" has come
up in this thread already, and seems to be in common use in the
plastics industry, even though plastic isn't really a mineral.

In considering this further I've concluded that there's a textural
component as well.  To qualify as "molten", the fluid form has to be
pretty viscous, which implies that it's not *completely* melted.

Then there's the jocular use: cheese and chocolate may normally fall
in the "melted" camp, but warnings about the "molten cheese/chocolate"
are not uncommonly heard in the vicinity of fondue pots.   But to my
intuition the viscosity restriction applies here as well.

--
Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>