APRIL 2025: The World Through Words – TASTE.

Words have traditionally been the backbone of intelligent communications. Some researchers suggest that humans began using spoken words, anywhere between 50000 and 70000 years ago. Words then were often just a collation of sounds, but they seemed to have served their purpose. How they managed their communications in their worlds so long ago can only be imagined!

Today, in the second millennium of the common era, as per Ethnologue, which is a language catalogue and resource site, there are around 7111 languages in the world (not including dialects, sign languages) with an estimated 840 million words.

And with such a surfeit of languages and words, our world should naturally (if not certainly!) be a very interesting one for those of us who will only take some time from our busy routines, to peek into the world of words.

The word that has randomly popped up this time is TASTE.

‘Taste the thunder’- a TV commercial for an Indian cola brand that resonated strongly with the masses, had some purists wondering if there could be any better example of linguistic nonsense. The popularity of the advertisement bore testimony otherwise - a feeling of machoism, energy and adventurousness was cleverly evoked by blending it into an invitation to experience the taste of a no-holds barred fizzy drink!

That the word ‘taste’ is so intrinsically woven into the cultural fabric of most communities, is often take for granted. Consequently, its power to alter the destinies of civilizations - emperors and individuals alike – remains forgotten or at best under-appreciated!

Be cautioned, this is not just about the sensory glands on our tongues, soft palate, pharynx, and upper esophagus. There is more to taste, than what these receptors do! Consider just a few contexts, to get a taste of what is involved.

An early taste of success has always been a powerful motivator for all – be they sportspersons, creative artists, stock-market traders, pickpockets, startup entrepreneurs or infatuated adolescents! Of course, there have been exceptions, such as the Scottish king Bruce, who despite tasting many failures, learnt perseverance from a spider for his eventual success.

Then there are the Hollywood stars, Bollywood divas and women from royal families, who have been known for their fine sense of jewelry and attire. These remarkable women – like Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, Vidya Balan, Gayathri Devi – with an exquisite taste for elegance - punctuated their persona with finely-crafted gemstones, superbly woven sarees, stylish coiffure and cemented their status as cultural influencers!

Quite often, though, the phrase “it’s an acquired taste’ accompanies an encouragement to experiment and relish the wonders of some epicurean delights. What is not so often mentioned in such a cautionary phrase is the risk of getting habituated to such experiments! How else can we explain the regrets that many alcoholics and chain-smokers have?

For most of us, though, tasting the bitter pill or tasting the unknown brings a dread that is almost equated with the end of the world!

Did you know that in Shakespearespeak (www.shakespearewords.com) there are more than a dozen words that are identified as being associated with taste – wormwood (bitter), gust (seek), relish, smack (savour), tooth (for pleasure), dainty (relish choice), distaste(offensive), tasteless (absurd), gaudy (offensive) and more!

As normal as it may seem for many of us to comprehend and appreciate the sense of taste, there are some who have a total inability to taste anything, while others have a reduced ability for some flavors, and a few more suffer from a distorted sense bordering on foul or metallic tastes. The terms that describe these conditions are ageusia, hypogeusia and dysgeusia.

Tasting the thunder as the cola commercial exhorted, may not really have excited these three categories of people, I guess! But then who knows?