Some people can strongly taste words or see sounds—for example, tasting buttered toast when the word “safety” is said or read. But we all may have this ability to a lesser degree.
James Wannerton has always experienced words differently than others. His tastebuds are stimulated by the thought of a word, like an eyedropper filled with a flavored substance has been squeezed on his tongue. The same word always produces the same taste in his mouth.
“Ever since I was young, I had a taste for the word ‘expect’ and I could never quite put my finger on what it was,” he told Wellcome Trust in 2011. “One day, I bought a packet of Marmite-flavoured crisps. When I had one, it clicked—that’s the taste of ‘expect’!”
“The name David gives me a very strong taste of cloth, a bit like sucking on a sleeve,” he said. His friend’s wife’s name, unfortunately, gives him the taste of cold vomit. The condition is called synesthesia, and it causes the senses to intermingle.
Not every word has a taste for Wannerton, he told the BBC, “although I have a horrible feeling that it could if I allowed it.”
