[HPFGU-OTChatter] silly question

[Amanda Geist]

Alora asked:

> I know, I know, this is seriously off topic, but what is treacle?  I
> have read about it many times in other british books, and it's
> always been in the back of my mind.  What is it?  Being an American,
> it sounds really icky, if you ask me.

It *is* really icky. It is molasses (or something very close to it). For
some reason known only to the British, they call it by a name that sounds as
if it were a petroleum derivative, which I thought it was for most of the
"All Creatures Great and Small" series (which is where I also learned that
the Brits like to think of their cars in terms of clothing: bonnet, boot,
etc.). Don't feel bad, there's really no way you could have figured this one
out (very similar to the whole clotted cream debate which spawned this list,
which still sounds to me as if it were something that's gone bad and must be
thrown out, but which the Brits amongst us assured me was actually a treat
to the senses).

--Amanda, not fond of molasses