Quicksand gets the name from the old use of “quick” meaning “alive” or “as if alive”. We see the same usage in “the quick and the dead”, and the old chemical names “quicklime” and “quicksilver” (for liquid mercury). In this context, quick does not imply speed.
Quicksand gets the name from the old use of “quick” meaning “alive” or “as if alive”. We see the same usage in “the quick and the dead”, and the old chemical names “quicklime” and “quicksilver” (for liquid mercury). In this context, quick does not imply speed.