Thursday, January 31, 2013
Taste
1. to become acquainted with by experience
2. to ascertain the flavor of by taking a little into the mouth
3.to eat or drink especially in small quantities
4. to perceive or recognize as if by the sense of taste
How do you taste a person? You could always be a cannibal and eat them, but that is just not natural. Is it the taste of their lips when you kiss them? Their soft and smooth lips, the first time you touch them. Maybe the way they taste has to do with how they smell. The smell of Axe freshly sprayed. Or the smell of James Bond 007 Cologne. The smell of their clothes as they have just been washed. Or when they just get out of the shower. Maybe its the way their breath smells that causes the taste. Like after they have just smoked a cigarette and they don't want you to know so they use mint mouthwash, but when you kiss them you can still taste the nicotine on their lips. Smell and taste go hand and hand with each other. Like a couple that compliments each other perfectly.
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I've heard humans don't taste bad if you spit-roast them and use plenty of tarragon... I find it interesting that when we describe people's scent, it's not really their scent but rather the scents they surround themselves with that we describe. Of course, it's nearly impossible to truly convey a smell to someone who has never smelled it, so I guess that's all we're left with.
ReplyDeleteI have to know if this tarragon thing is a joke.
Deletewrong complement- http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/compliment-versus-complement.aspx
ReplyDeleteI loved the all-too-real line with the cigarette and mouthwash! I think all of the scents play well off of each other, and we could argue for any too being a perfect sensuous marriage. Axe spray conjures images of a pimple-ridden highschooler, while Bond cologne makes me think of a chisel-jawed, dapper, suited man. It's crazy that they're both scents in the same market, but they say completely different things.
That line that Matt mentions is one of my favorite sorts of lines in writing. It's clear that you're writing in generalities, and then without pointing it out, you begin to write about a specific experience you've had. It's as if your mind is running away from itself. You could highlight that even more by making that sentence even longer.
DeleteGood!
The post itself has a nice rhythm, too.
I really enjoyed this because that line about using mouthwash after smoking a cigarette to try to hide it-- totally me, the boyfriend hates the taste/smell of cigarettes. I really like that you conveyed smell through taste and taste through smell here because its true, when you smell something strong enough you can taste it just like you can generally smell what you're tasting.
ReplyDeleteit's*= it is/it has
its= possessive <--- I still mix this up quite a bit especially when typing quickly.
The cigarettes and mouthwash is something my ex would do when we first started dating, as our relationship went on he would stop using mouthwash. It was so hard for me to write about the way something tastes without saying how it smells.
ReplyDeleteThis comment is telling, too. The sorts of specifics we were talking about in class. . .this is one of them. A great metaphor for something going a little bit sour, if you will.
DeleteI love the simile you use in the end, comparing the relationship between scent and taste with an actual, human relationship between two people. Beginning your post with a numbered list of definitions for "taste" was a good move, since it introduces the reader to the topic and allows you to contemplate and analyze the taste and smell of people. I also enjoy the sense of wonder you create by including various questions within the essay.
ReplyDeleteI now like the last line, too. I'd thought it was too wrappy-uppy. But now I think it offers another opportunity for metaphor.
Delete"Like a couple that complements each other perfectly somehow, without making perfect sense." See how that type of thing--or whatever specific you choose--would allow you to comment on both taste and smell, and also on the relationship you've subtly introduced. (I like mine, too, because of the "sense" pun!).
DW
Oh, one more thing. The definition stuff could work well as a structuring principle in a longer essay. Each section could begin with a definition that tells us something about what you're about to comment on.
ReplyDeleteDW