A Friday Video

Hello! It's very late on Thursday night, but technically it's Friday (very early Friday morning) so I'm going to post this video now since I'll be traveling later "today."

The video is for a song called "Tongue Tied" by Grouplove. The lyrics aren't very amazing, honestly, and the video is strange, but the song's title has "tongue" in it and for "Taste" week, that's good enough for me! Plus it has a good beat:

If you didn't know, "tongue tied" generally refers to a person who is not able to speak because he or she is nervous or has something else preventing him or her from speaking. Another common phrase for that is "the cat's got your tongue." Yeah, I know, it's weird, but that's English. And that's how Fun Friday works.

So, thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!

Senses: "Taste" Vocabulary

This statue is sticking out its tongue. Tongues are the main organ used for the sense of taste. (Image)

Good evening! It's Word Wednesday, so today I'd like to talk about vocabulary related to the sense of taste. In the last few weeks we've learned a lot of vocabulary related to other senses (sight, hearing, and smell) if you want to review those words, too.

First of all, the sense is called taste, and like the word "smell," taste can also be a verb or a noun. On Monday we examined how to use it as a verb. If you're using taste as a noun, a synonym can be flavor, but they're not exactly the same. Taste can be general, but flavor usually refers to a specific taste:

The guanabana fruit is one of my favorite foods in Costa Rica. It has a very unique taste. Its flavor is like a mixture of pineapple, mango, and milk, but with a texture that's different from all of them. (Photo by Ryan Sitzman)

If something has a good taste, you can say that it's tasty or flavorful. Other common words are delicious and yummy. If something has a bad taste or texture, you can say it's disgusting, gross, nasty, or awful. Or, if something tastes strange, you can say it tastes funny.

Of course, when you eat and taste food, it's a process. The first part of that is to take a bite of food (a piece) or to take a sip of a drink (a small amount of liquid). Another option, for example if you're eating ice cream, is to lick it with your tongue and bring the food into your mouth. If you're eating solid food, you probably need to chew it with your teeth (the plural form of "tooth"). The food will pass over your tongue, which is an organ covered in taste buds; these taste buds are basically little receptors that allow you experience the food's taste. Finally, you need to swallow your food, which means that you move your tongue and throat to pass the food from your mouth to your esophagus. After that, the food travels to your stomach, where your body digests it.

So, let's review today's vocabulary. Can you explain what each of the words means?

1. taste

2. flavor

3. tasty

4. flavorful

5. gross, nasty, disgusting

6. to taste funny

7. to take a bite

8. to take a sip

9. to lick

10. to chew

11. tooth, teeth

12. taste buds

13. to swallow

14. tongue

15. stomach

16. to digest

Here are some suggested definitions:

1. taste - to experience a flavor with your tastebuds
2. flavor - a noun; a synonym of "taste"
3. tasty - a way to describe food with a good flavor
4. flavorful - a way to describe food with a good or "complete" flavor
5. gross, nasty, disgusting - a way to describe food with a bad flavor
6. to taste funny - when food tastes strange
7. to take a bite - to eat a small piece of food
8. to take a sip - to drink a small amount of liquid
9. to lick - to touch your tongue to something, usually food
10. to chew - to use your teeth to break food into smaller pieces
11. tooth, teeth - the things you use to chew; tooth is singular, teeth is plural
12. taste buds - flavor receptors on your tongue
13. to swallow - move food from your mouth to your esophagus
14. tongue - the organ used for the sense of taste
15. stomach - where your body digests food
16. to digest - to break down something (usually food) into smaller parts

This cat is licking its paw, but not to clean itself. Cats lick their paws and bodies to clean themselves. (Image)

So, that's it for today. I hope you learned some new words and ideas! If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me. Thanks for reading, and have a nice night!

Common Error: Taste, Try, Test, and Prove

This is a picture of me sampling (tasting/trying) different batches of coffee at a tasting room in Palmares. This is my dream job! (Picture by Angela Jimenez) 

Good afternoon! Today is Mistake Monday, so I wanted to continue with our senses theme. This week's sense is taste. Today's Common Error is actually a series of confusing words and errors. Most of them are related to the Spanish verb probar, which can be translated into a few English words. Have a look:

Common Error: Taste, Try, Test, and Prove
DON’T say this:	"I haven't proved your tacos. Can I have a test?" "Tomorrow we will prove five different types of coffee."
WHY?	Basically, all of these words can be expressed with the verb "probar" in Spanish. But there are different uses for each in English: -Taste is to put something into your mouth to experience its flavor (saborear in Spanish): "This pizza tastes wonderful!" "I am sick and have a stuffy nose so I can't taste very well." -Try can also be similar to "taste" if you're talking about food, but it can also mean to attempt to do something (like intentar in Spanish): "Would you like to try a piece of this cake I made?" "I will try to come to class on time." -Test can also mean to "try," but we don't normally use it with food. It's more commonly used to see if something functions correctly, or with evaluations and exams (similar to evaluar in Spanish): "Our teacher is going to test us on our new vocabulary." "I took my DVD player to the repair shop, but when they tested it they couldn't find the problem." -Prove means to demonstrate that something is true or real. It's often used in science and math: "Isaac Newton did experiments to prove that gravity exists." "The suspect proved to the police that he was innocent."
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"I haven't tried/tasted your tacos. Can I have a taste?" -"Tomorrow we'll try/taste five different types of coffee."

I hope my explanations make sense. If you try to use them in different situations, please tell me how it goes! On Wednesday we'll look at more vocabulary related to these words, especially taste. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!