Discovering hidden meanings of tart, ironic, and sweet

Everyone seems to know that tart means sour. The question should be asked, then what’s the difference between the two?

In Dutch, we see the same with the adjectives wrang and zuur.

The Dutch leading dictionary Van Dale suggests that wrang refers to something so sour that it wrings one’s lips.

I thought for a long time about the question of why we have an extra word next to sour. On Shabbat, I suddenly knew.

We use tart when we mean: [sour but] it should have been sweet(er)!

The fruit, the grapes, the wine, the life story, the difference between the good fortune of my brother and my misfortune, etc. These don’t just give or leave a sour or bitter taste in the mouth. They mourn that they aren’t any sweeter. The word tart contains a complaint, a disappointment.

Also when the word is used as a derogatory noun, there is a regret that this prostitute or old lady — also in Dutch: ouwe taart — isn’t any sweeter.

***

Dictionaries also seem troubled explaining all of the adjective ironic.

They tend to point out that irony can mean an unexpected development.

But it’s not an irony when someone after 20 years of infertility gives birth to a child. So we see that irony needs to be something negative. It would be an irony if she got a child years after giving up on infertility treatment. The new baby is not ironic but the time and nerves wasted in treatment are.

But just as with tart, it’s not just negative. It’s a negative that should have been positive. It’s bitter where it should have been sweet.

Ironically, he worked his whole life to get wealthy but ended up without a penny to his name while his lazy brother became rich by winning the lotto.

***

What is called sweets in English and Hebrew, the Dutch call zuurtjes if they are meant for sucking, which literally means: little sour ones. Of course, candy must be sweet but some are special because a little sour is added to enhance their taste: zuurtjes. (And a little sweet added makes sour stuff tastier.) For many years, my children, early-on well versed in the junk food universe, assumed that zuur was Dutch for sweet and so, zoet must be sour.

***

Isn’t the interface between sour, sweet, and bitter linguistically interesting?

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. 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When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. 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He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1