Unctuous corrosiveness

Meaning

Phrase.

Fire is described as full of an adhering, unctuous corrosiveness that penetrates, digests and corrodes. This is a qualitative account of elemental efficacy, not an identification of a particular corrosive liquid. Its paradoxical combination of oily adherence and corrosive penetration contributes to the source’s fire vocabulary and should not be replaced by a single modern chemical property.