Americans have molasses, and the British have treacle. The products are the same thing — a sticky, thick, dark syrup made from cooking down partly refined sugar. In a metaphorical sense, the word is used to refer to anything overly sentimental or distractingly sweet in an emotional sense. While “treacle” has sugary usages today, the word was used in Middle English for an antidote against venom. The Greek “thēriakē” means “antidote against venom,” and it came into Old French as “triacle” and into English as “treacle.” The modern sweet sense dates to the late 17th century.