Wood on Words: A tasty talk about flavor-inspired words? Sweet!

First you're sweet on someone, then the relationship sours, but you feel obligated to stay with it to the bitter end.

Oh, the fickle flavors of feelings.

The language of love is sprinkled with sweetness, from terms of endearment like "sweetheart" and "sweetie" to the whispering of "sweet nothings."

To converse in such a way is sometimes indistinguishable from "sweet-talk," which is to speak "in a flattering or blandishing way to" someone, sweetheart or not.

In poker, to "sweeten" is slang for "to add to the pot before opening."

In business, where the stakes are often much higher, an offer is "sweetened" by increasing its value "in order to induce acceptance, promote sales, etc."

Sometimes such dealings get shady, resulting in a "sweetheart contract" (or "deal" or "agreement"). While this term sounds appealing, its specific meaning is "a contract arranged between union officials and an employer with terms disadvantageous to union members."

The result is not a sweet deal for all.

In some sports, "sweet spot" refers to the hitting area of a bat, club or racket that consistently yields the best results.

Many of us have a "sweet tooth," an informal term for "a fondness or craving for sweets."

Among the sweet things that tempt us are sweet basil, sweet cherry, sweet corn, sweet peas, sweet pepper and sweet potato, and two contradictions: "sweetbreads," a meat dish and not bread, and "sweetmeats," sugary treats that are meatless.

Sweetness can get too sugary, becoming sentimental, saccharine or cloying. Or it can be tinged with sadness and transformed into "bittersweet."

When not mixed with sweet, "bitter" is an unpleasant thing. Among its meanings are "acrid," the bitterness we can taste; "grievous," as in bitter disappointment; "harsh, severe," like a bitter wind; and "characterized by strong feelings of hatred, resentment, cynicism, etc." such as a bitter old man (I'm not thinking of anyone in particular).

To pursue something to the "bitter end" is to continue to let it run its course, no matter how difficult or distressing, even until death.

Curiously, the phrase was originally a nautical term, referring to the winding of a cable around a deck post, also called a "bitt." When it was wrapped to the bitt's end, there was no longer any freedom of action with it.

A person who is bitter also can be considered "sour," especially a "sourpuss."

Other applications of sour include "made acid or rank," (sour milk), "below what is usual or normal" (the two nations' relations have soured), "gratingly wrong or off pitch" (sour note), and "exceedingly acid" (sour soil).

There also are sour items we consume, such as sourballs, sour cherries, sour cream, sourdough, sour mash and sour oranges.

However, "sour grapes" is actually about fruitlessness. This phrase for "a scorning or belittling of something only because it cannot be had or done" comes from an Aesop's fable about a fox that is unable to reach a bunch of grapes. To ease its frustration, it contends that the fruit wasn't worth eating.

Either outcome - failing to obtain a prize or getting it but discovering it's no good - can be a bitter pill to swallow.

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.