Normally, we say "I splashed water".
And, I am sure we can say "I splashed mud" but not sure with other things.
My question is that:
can we splash things that are not water such as snow/sand/dirt/flour/etc?
English Language Learners Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for speakers of other languages learning English. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communityNormally, we say "I splashed water".
And, I am sure we can say "I splashed mud" but not sure with other things.
My question is that:
can we splash things that are not water such as snow/sand/dirt/flour/etc?
I don't think you should use splash for things that aren't liquid or like a liquid. You might look at other verbs, like scatter, strew, sprinkle, spill, or spread. Some other words that are usually used for liquids, like pour and spray, can be used with non-liquids, like sand.
I'm going to contest some of the other answers, and say that solid objects can splash, when they move in a liquid fashion. This is usually associated with an impact with a lot of force, which causes the material to splash out like a rock hitting a pool of water.
For instance, a bomb going off might cause a sand dune to splash. A meteor hitting the ground might cause rock to splash, forming a crater. A plane crashing into a building might cause both to splash.
No, "splash" is used for liquids.
With semi-liquids like mud I would prefer the verb "splatter," unless the mud is very watery.
Some substances, like flour and sand, sometimes exhibit liquid-like properties and can be described as such. For example, depending on the context, you can say you are "pouring" sand and flour and perhaps even dirt (although "dumping" would be more likely).
But you cannot "splash" sand or snow or dirt.
I look at the noun form and that is a sound. If it makes the splash sound when something in motion comes in contact with it, then it can be splashed.