Language is not something most people go crazy over, but I think this is exciting. A few months ago, I wrote: “Why isn’t there a word for the phenomenon of something tasting the way something else smells? This happens all the time and I can never figure out a satisfactory way of describing it.” [1] I’ve been lamenting on this for quite some time, but not really making any effort to fix it. So I was pleasantly surprised to get an email from Graham the other day, containing a suggestion for this word.

Before the big reveal, let me just say that I realize how resistant language can be to change. There was a whole phonetic spelling movement about 100 years ago, and for sum reesun I kan’t pasiblee imajun, it nevur cot on. On the other hand, some words get introduced into the language and they do catch on, often with surprisingly little effort.

It seems to be hit-or-miss, except for two factors: the words are furthered by sufficiently geeky people who use them, regardless of what other people may think; and the words fill a gap in language that needs to be filled. I do believe that I, personally, fall into the first category, but whether or not the aforementioned language gap actually exists—well, that’s a pipe of a different color.

It’s a big deal to me, though, because, let’s face it: the phraseology “this tastes like the way that smells” is awkward. I really believe there should be a more elegant way of saying this, particularly considering the fact that taste and smell are so delicately intertwined. The worst is when you get a cold and lose your appetite, not due to sickness, but because everything tastes the same—which is to say it tastes like nothing at all, and subsequently the items comprising the meal become various types of paste.

Graham’s suggestion is the prefix sous-. It’s the French word for “under” which I find appropriate. The basic tastes—sweet, salty, bitter, etc—mix with the sense of smell to form a larger coherent taste, so in a way, the more granular sense of smell is underlying the more coarse sense of taste.

Sous- is pronounced “sue” when the following word begins with a consonant. If the following word begins with a vowel, the second “s” is pronounced, sounding like the first syllable in sousaphone.

It also makes sense that it would be a prefix, since we don’t have specific words for complex tastes and smells. In other words, there is no word that conveys the taste of cinnamon. You can say something tastes like cinnamon, or that it has a cinnamon flavor, but (much like color) if you’ve never actually tasted cinnamon, there are no points of reference, unless you compare it to another taste. [2] So this taste-descriptor word needs to stay, and it makes sense to simply modify it to mean “like how this smells”. In that respect, it’s much like the prefix pseudo-, but it stands in for an entire phrase, rather than just another word. It’s an idea, contained in a prefix.

Along those lines, since the pronounciation of sous- is close to pseudo- already, it doesn’t require a great mental effort to pick up and use. Something that tastes the way something else smells is already that pseudo-flavor, so just drop the “o” and you have the solution.

Also, the modifier goes both ways. It can mean either “x tastes the way y smells” or “x smells the way y tastes”. Since so many tastes are based on smells, I think the former would be more common, although the latter comes into play when something tastes notably different from the way it smells, and you’re comparing its taste to something else.

For example:

Old:
Gin tastes like the way pine smells.

New:
Gin tastes like sous-pine.

Old:
This candle smells like the way chocolate chip cookies taste.

New:
This candle smells like sous-chocolate chip cookies.

This is great. I’m going to be making an effort to use this in the future, even if it means having to explain it to other people. I have to be honest, I do think it would be cool if this caught on. But then again, I also have to be realistic. Graham pointed out, “I can’t actually imagine anybody except for you would be interested…”

-Ted


[1] See One Shots. The article is a collection of throw away gags that, individually, would not carry an entire post, but together created a sort of non-theme theme. [Back]

[2] Hence, the “it tastes like chicken” cliche for any exotic meats. [Back]