Wood on Words: A topic worth its salt

As poor Charlie the Tuna was told over and over, there's a difference between tasting good and being in good taste. The former is about how things are flavored, the latter about whether they're favored.

The ability to detect flavors is dependent upon the sense of smell, but the word "taste" is actually linked with the sense of touch.

The first definition of "taste" in Webster's, which it labels "obsolete," is "to test by touching." Its Old French ancestor "taster" meant "to handle" or "touch" as well as "taste."

The two notions have gone their separate ways, although a small amount of togetherness remains: "Taste" and "touch" each can mean "a small amount."

A "taste of" honey would be a sampling, while a "taste for" honey is preference, possibly even a craving.

Another synonym for a smidgen is "soupcon," (pronounced soop-SONE), a French word that sounds like something tasty. In contrast with "soupe du jour," however, "soupcon" comes from the Latin for "suspicion."

People who have reason to be suspicious of their soup sometimes hire "tasters," which isn't a bad gig as long as nothing unsavory is being cooked up.

"Tastemakers" are folks who decide what's "tasteful" and what's "tasteless." People who make things that are tasty are cooks, chefs, bakers and other culinary artists.

Traditional wisdom says that humans can distinguish four types of taste: salt, sweet, sour and bitter. Each of these tastes has helped spice up the language, too.

Most of the surface of the Earth is covered in saltwater, yet salt has been a highly prized substance down through history.

The word "salary," for example, comes from the Latin "salarium," which originally was "money for salt," a part of a Roman soldier's pay.

In those days, soldiers would prove that they were "worth their salt," a phrase we still use in value judgments.

For personal quality ratings, it's tough to beat "salt of the earth," an expression at least as old as its appearance in the Book of Matthew in the New Testament.

Less common as a measure of worth is "above (or below) the salt," derived from a person's assigned position at the upper or lower portion of a table with a bowl of salt in the center. Logic would suggest that being below the salt but closer to it than someone above it would be a good thing, but I'm not sure how it all worked.

To store or save things of value is "to salt them away."

On the other hand, some things of dubious value we take "with a grain of salt."

And some people can be downright crooked, using the practice of "salting" a piece of land, for example, by scattering treasure to make prospective buyers think that there's gold in them thar hills.

The victims eventually discover that not only have they lost their money but the land is worthless, and that's like "rubbing salt into a wound."

Such an experience also can "leave a bad taste in your mouth."

Next week, the other three tastes.

Barry Wood is a senior copy editor at the Rockford Register Star. Contact him at bwood@rrstar.com or write to Wood on Words, 99 E. State St., Rockford, IL 61104.