The Comprehensive Etymology of Eating
“Now I can impress my food-snob friends with more than my ratatouille and learn some great food-related scrabble words as well.” —Nina Lesowitz, author of The Party Girl Cookbook
Looking for a unique foodie gift? Eat Your Words is a true treat for anyone who loves language as much as food. And, it’s a great Scrabble helper.
Eat Your Words is a gloriously gluttonous glossary of all things grub and gastronomy. Eat Your Words author Paul Convery is a "word doctor" with 20 years’ experience as a proofreader, a copyeditor, and magazine production manager. A lifelong logophile, he is also the author of other fun reference books you didn’t know you wanted (Drinktionary: The Definitive Dictionary for the Discerning Drinker and Inkhorn's Erotonomicon: An Advanced Sexual Vocabulary for Verbivores and Vulgarians.)
A delight for word nerds and a great foodie gift. With witty and fun definitions of everything from aeroponics to zoosaprophagy, this dictionary of foodie trivia has definitions for 6,000 unusual and unfamiliar terms. For Scrabble stars and anyone who excels at Words with Friends, Eat Your Words is a clever guide to little-known culinary terms that will give you that special edge.
In Eat Your Words: The Definitive Dictionary for Discerning Diners, you’ll find terms about:
- A cornucopia of culinary treats from around the world
- The cultivation, selling, and serving of every food you can imagine
- The appetites of diners and their dinners across all species
Fans of The Flavor Equation, Tequila Mockingbird, or On Food and Cooking will enjoy this fascinating journey into the language of food and eating.
Tasting Notes: Flavour, Freshness (and so forth)
acerbitude * sourness or sharpness of taste, as with unripe fruit
acescency * tartness or asperity of taste
acetarious * denoting vegetables or plants used raw in salad, such as lettuce or cress
acetosity * the quality of being sour-tasting or vinegarish
acidulousness * a degree of sharpness or bitterness in flavour
ackerspritted * said of gathered potatoes that have sprouted prematurely
acridity * an uncomfortably corrosive bitterness of taste
acrimonious * extremely pungent to taste
acritude * an astringency in food that is irritating to the organs of taste
addleness * the degree of putrefaction or rottenness of eggs
agerdows * an early anglicization of agrodolce or aigredoux–‘bittersweet’
al dente * of pasta, cooked firmer to the bite, not soggy or soft
alimonious * nourishing, full of goodness
alliaceous * tasting of garlic, leeks or onions; garlicky
amarulence * bitterness of taste
ambrosiate * exceptionally sweet and pleasing to savour
ampery * a regional descriptor for cheese that is starting to reek and decay
amygdalaceous * having the flavour of almonds
amylaceous * starchy; applies to non-nitrogenous foods
apiaceous * savouring of parsley or similar herbs
appetizing * mouth-wateringly tasty
areastiness * rankness or rancidity in food
argute * sharp of taste