Talk:Acquired taste

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List of Acquired tastes or examples section[edit]

Why was the article list of acquired tastes removed? and the examples section removed? We need/want that information somewhere besides the history page —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.74.117.193 (talk) 15:31, 18 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This is the exact same question I am asking myself right now, since I returned to this article BECAUSE I wanted to see this list I very well remember. The article is much improved, but sadly, the list is GONE! Is there any place except the history where I can still find it? --95.210.101.46 (talk) 19:25, 2 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Split article[edit]

The early history for this article can be found on list of acquired tastes which used to be named Acquired taste and which I moved before splitting the two articles. —mako ๛ 19:06, 26 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Merge[edit]

There's very little here - should we just redirect it to taste? I've already added the entire content there, which was omitted up until now. The evolutionary biology aspects behind it interest me - I imagine this occurs in most animals, allowing them to avoid eating foods they are unfamiliar with. This is well documented in rats. Even so, as is the article doesn't warrant a separate page. Richard001 05:35, 2 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, though the article didn't previously mention it, there are of course non-gustatory forms of 'acquired taste', such as appreciating music for example. Sadly I don't seem to be able to dig up any material on the subject at all - gustatory or otherwise. Richard001 07:23, 3 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A lot of this article appears to focus on the subjectivity of preference rather than the biology of people literally acquiring a tolerance for flavors; thus, I agree that the article should be merged as a section in Taste and heavily edited if the original intent is to provide information regarding the actual biological mechanism. In addition, the majority of information provided only focuses on one theory of acquired taste, associating it predominantly with the sociological aspect of novelty, and only just touches on the biological incentives with the mention of Smit and Blackburn's paper. 2600:1700:6A96:60:AD43:ABE3:7D44:6A3 (talk) 06:08, 9 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Fox example... ridiculous![edit]

Oh, for Pete's sake... the classic story of the fox and the "sour grapes" is in NO way an example of "acquired taste". First of all, sour grapes would likely be distasteful to ANYONE, which is why the fox chooses to believe that they are sour. Being unable to reach them, he obviously has NO WAY of knowing whether they are "too sour for his tastes"... he simply consoles himself with this imagined notion that they are sour. If anything, one could assume that given their appearance, the fox actually knew differently... it's unlikely he would have put forth so much effort to reach them if they did not appear and/or smell ripe, and therefore, sweet.

The citation doesn't belong in this article, because it is NOT an example of the subject. I'm just too lazy, er, respectful to remove it myself. Um... there's probably nobody reading the article, anyway. ;) —Preceding unsigned comment added by MaxVolume (talk • contribs) 20:08, 3 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It would probably have been easier to remove the item than to type all this. Regards, Looie496 (talk) 22:02, 9 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, but unlike most people who edit Wikipedia, I don't consider myself to be a dictator of what should and shouldn't be here. I simply wanted to get my point across, and leave it open for debate. As a matter of fact, the biggest reason is that I personally don't care what gets posted in most articles. I just happen across articles from time to time that I feel compelled to express my opinion on, and unless I'm completely bored (like now), I may never revisit the discussion unless someone posts directly on my talk page. It would be nice if someone (preferably the person who posted it to begin with) would remove that example, but as for me, there are a lot more articles that I find both more interesting and more important. MaxVolume (talk) 22:17, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It looks like somebody actually did remove it last month, so the problem is solved now, isn't it? Looie496 (talk) 22:33, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Most of the page gone[edit]

What has happened here? I usually advice people to read this article when talking about olives and wine, and now when I go in just a small part of the beautiful article is here.. Sad.. The edit nazis should improve by re-writing and writing More, not just remove things. /Luke

Well, when a significant portion of an article is complete crap written by someone who doesn't fully understand the subject of said article, no rewriting in the world will save it. Like a surgeon, sometimes we have to cut in order to cure. MaxVolume (talk) 17:47, 14 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This article was far more entertaining when there were a lot of examples of food usually described as "acquired tastes", it was delightful to follow the links to learn of strange food around the world. Now it's just plain boring. Don't get too serious now, let there be room for a little smile. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.49.126.142 (talk) 15:16, 30 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia is not about entertainment. Fun is encouraged, but not integral: this is an encyclopedia. Feel free to make any of the edits you suggested and wait to see if they withstand peer review. As it stands, this article is borderline crap and seriously needs some help from authoritative sources, a sommelier, perhaps, or a food critic who does this sort of thing for a living. If you feel up to the challenge, please contribute. Yabopomonofonomopo bay (talk) 08:22, 17 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Awkward and amateurishly written[edit]

"The risk in this acting is that it can lead to all sorts of excesses such as self-deception and pretentiousness." Or poorly composed articles that sound like they were written by an eighth grader, with bogus citations. Why not say that it is important to remain objective and honest while adjusting one's tastes, and not to claim to enjoy something simply to impress others? 174.99.62.107 (talk) 02:18, 11 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Both are moral judgements. Both are unacceptable on Wikipedia. Also, I don't think the source would hold up to much scrutiny, especially considering its charged and inflammatory language and repeated use of the word "bullshit", so I'm just going to go ahead and remove the statement ~~and its cronies~~ from ~~both~~ its locations in the article. It's bothering me, too. Yabopomonofonomopo bay (talk) 08:16, 17 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

That's done, but I must have read the article or one of its sections twice, I only had to remove one instance. I really wish someone would blank this page and rewrite the whole damn thing. Yabopomonofonomopo bay (talk) 08:45, 17 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Olives?[edit]

Seriously? and root beer? But no oysters? This page needs adult help. 71.236.242.147 (talk) 03:42, 26 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

And no mention of smoking? I agree. Paul Magnussen (talk) 17:14, 31 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Here's a potential source to cite?[edit]

http://freakonomics.com/2010/04/14/the-acquisition-of-taste/ This article seems to be worth checking out. I couldn't find anything factual on Acquired taste, but this article might be a starting point to base an article around? Skiingxmoose (talk) 19:34, 27 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Oxford English Dictionary Definition[edit]

The OED defines Acquired taste as, "acquired taste n. a liking gained gradually, through experience or repeated exposure; (hence) a person who or thing which is not immediately appealing, but which one comes to enjoy or appreciate over a period of time." ("acquired, adj." OED Online. Oxford University Press, December 2014. Web. 2 March 2015.)

This should be worked into the intro. Skiingxmoose (talk) 21:52, 2 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Determining whether taste is aquired[edit]

I think the article currently fails to answer some basic questions. How can one determine whether a taste is acquired or innate? Are all tastes acquired? The article lists some acquired tastes but doesn't list any innate tastes. Is there some methodology that can be used to determine it? Are there statistics that could be added to support the lists? --Cyberixae (talk) 18:09, 13 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Also, the article seems to only talk about food. However, the first sentence seems to implied that acquired taste could also be something else like music. I'm not a native English speaker and to me it is not obvious if the term would typically mean food or if it could generally be used about music and clothing. If the term is defined for multiple different types then it would perhaps be good to split the article into sections ( food, music, clothing ) and deal with each subject separately. --Cyberixae (talk) 12:35, 14 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Characteristics -- "association"?[edit]

The section "Characteristics" says:

In case of food and drink, the difficulty of enjoying the product may be due to a strong odor [...] or association (such as eating insects or organ meat).

I'd like to object to "association" in this list of causes for a priori dislike (i.e., natural dislike, before one aquires the taste), at least unless a source can be given. Off the top of my head, I'd be inclined to think of the dislike of such food as an "aquired distaste" rather than the other way round.

Of course, e.g. in the case of offal, one may argue that there are other reasons, such as strong taste, for a priori dislike, but that does not justify listing "association" in the section. As for insects, I am not convinced dislike is a priori, but, as I suppose is the case with fear of spiders and snakes, it may have a biological basis - again, not justifying "association" in this list.

Thoughts? Or sources?--Nø (talk) 15:28, 27 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Cilantro/Corriander[edit]

Is it correct to describe this as an "acquired taste"? If you don't have the gene that makes it taste like soap, then there is no need to acquire a taste - it tastes perfectly fine. If you do have the gene, can you acquire a taste for it, or will it always be horrible? Iapetus (talk) 09:34, 16 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

My girlfriend has both alleles of the cilantro haters, yet she loves it. So either there's something wrong with the theory that these alleles make you dislike cilantro - or she indeed acquired the taste. 2001:8E0:21BE:8E00:1C27:9967:62B:3504 (talk) 20:56, 9 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hoppy beer[edit]

For me hoppy beer like North German Pilsner is the perfect example of an acquired taste. 16 years ago, when I hadn't yet been sufficiently exposed to it, I didn't really like it. I found the bitternes nasty. But for sentimental reasons (I'm partly of North German descent), I kept drinking it. And now I love the grip it has for the tongue, and find milder lagers just watery. My brother and my Swiss countrymen who haven't been exposed to it as I have, still don't like it.

Garlic is another matter. I can't recall a time I didn't like garlic! Sure, there are people who dislike it, but for me it was love at first smell. Maybe I have a gene for it.

Rivella may seem repulsive if you think whey is a questionable ingredient for a softdrink, but the taste is actually nice. The same with liver and liverwurst. Of course this is offal, and this may seem disgusting, but the taste is nice. As a kid I always liked it. It's rather now as an adult that I've become somewhat more skeptic, because I realised it's offal.

Kimchi and salty liquorice is again another matter. I realise that the taste may need getting used to for some people. Still I liked them immediately. Because I already knew and liked sauerkraut (fermented cabbage) and overripe camembert (ammonium chloride smell). 2001:8E0:21BE:8E00:1C27:9967:62B:3504 (talk) 21:19, 9 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]