the quick
Those who move
The quick is the sensitive flesh beneath fingernails and toenails, where cutting causes pain and bleeding.
The phrase cut to the quick means to wound someone deeply, reaching their most vulnerable core.
In older usage, the quick meant living flesh generally, or living people: the quick and the dead.
- lazy dogLethargic domestic canine
- typing testKeyboard speed measurement
- nail bedTissue under fingernails
- nerveSignal-carrying body fiber
- jumpPropel oneself airborne
proverb · core · pain receptors · archaic language · essence · cuticle · dermis · life · energy · blood vessels · sensation · heart · idiom · flash · vitality · spirit · expression · tissue