Phlegm, Snot and Mucus...what's the difference?

Factual Questions
1

I’m sure this question must have been posed before, but I couldn’t find it.

My SO and I can’t seem to agree on this vitally important issue, to wit; I maintain that phlegm is a respiratory (as in lungs) pheonomena and only finds its way to the nose when we’re ill (like with a cold), snot is the thin allergy type nasal secretion and mucus is the stuff that …ahem…lubricates all of our…um, shall we say dampish orafices.

Please, help me stamp out ignorance, either mine or SO’s (but it would be a lot better if it were to be SOthers).

2

Mucus protects the membranes inside your breathing bits and the whole alimentary canal, from mouth to anus. Also parts of your genitals. Snot is mucus that originates in the nasal bits and sinuses.

A phlegm, or phlegmish person, is somebody from Flanders. :wink: