U is for Unctuous Undercurrents- A-Z Writing Challenge

U is for Unctuous in the 2012 A-Z Writing Challenge.

Okay. I have to apologize. I hit the wrong date for publishing and this was supposed to be online, first thing PDT.... (I hang my head in shame.)
Definition of UNCTUOUS

1 a: fatty, oily b: smooth and greasy in texture or appearance; 2: plastic <fine unctuous clay> and,

3: full of unction; especially: revealing or marked by a smug, ingratiating, and false earnestness or spirituality

We've all known them, not because we sought them out but because they were brought to us by others equally smitten by their charms. You know who I mean, that suave (slick suave, not classy suave) individual who looks at you with all the innocence of an angel. They say all the right things, appear to do all the right things and, yet, something inside tells us they are being unctuous to a fault -- at our expense. Think Eddie Haskell of Leave It To Beaver.  (I wonder: did the writer even suggest 'unctuous' as a character aid?)


Isn't that the sweetest face, on earth? But, that's because he knows how to set his features into what pleases the one he's conning. That mind has a whole different set of plans working. As it is with most con men/women.

More than most of us, these fellow humans have figured out how to read us. They know exactly how to say what we want to hear before moving in for the kill -- whether it's your pocketbook or your sense of security. The charlatans don't wear signs. Sadly, most of us don't see what they were until after the damage has been done.

Would you buy a used car from this smarmy gentleman? Wouldn't you rather he be called unctuous?




Unctuous is such a great word, really; don't you think? Yet, I've rarely seen it used in novels to describe characters. Oh, you get descriptions of backhanded, mealy-mouthed, double-dealing, fake, hypocritical, two-faced, insincere... and others you can think of, but, why won't fiction writers use "unctuous" when describing a jerk/jerkette? Is it because it's so complete in its own definition that writers would be left with nothing else to say?

Just askin'... I'm not a fiction writer, as anyone can readily see from my (at this moment) very empty fiction blog! (Sigh... ) Would I stop reading, once you told me that new guy was unctuous, because I know how it all ends? What do you think?



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