Mouthfeel of Words

Hi, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, my name is Tracy, and I’m calling from Dallas, Texas.

Welcome, Tracy. What’s up?

Well, I have a question. It’s been bothering me for several years.

My question is, is there a word that is defined as the way words feel when they’re spoken?

So, like, it has nothing to do with what the words mean.

For example, I like the way the word suitcase feels, the combination of syllables, but I don’t like the word rural or the way that feels.

Suitcase versus rural. I could see that.

What do you like about saying the word suitcase?

I guess it’s just, I don’t know.

It’s not that you like to travel, right?

Right. It’s just the way it feels in my mouth and on my tongue.

Interesting. Tracy, so if you say the word suitcase for you, it’s like, I don’t know, biting into a delicious piece of Belgian chocolate or sipping coffee that you really like.

I mean, is it like food?

It might be kind of similar to that.

It’s harder for me to find a word that I like.

It’s a lot easier for me to find a word that I really don’t like.

That’s interesting.

That’s interesting because I think of wine tasting, you know, and how they talk about mouthfeel, the way the wine feels sort of rounded or velvety.

And it requires that you venture into the territory that’s almost unexplainable because it’s based in describing our physical sensations to a degree that we usually don’t bother.

Right.

And that’s why I’ve been so frustrated because I’m a writer and I’ve tried to express this concept many times over the years.

And it’s like if there was just a word defined this, maybe it wouldn’t be so difficult.

Tracy, even if we can come up with a word for you, you’re still stuck because you’re still going to have to explain that word because it must be rare.

Nobody knows it.

And I would think as a writer that you might have more enjoyment in the process of explaining why you enjoy the sensation of saying a word more than you would simply just slotting a single word into that space where otherwise you might need a page or a paragraph.

Well, that’s true. I hadn’t thought about that.

I think there’s a word for that. We interviewed Roy Blunt Jr. about his book, Alphabet Juice. It’s in a podcast on our website.

And he uses a word in that book and in the follow-up book, Alphabet or Juice, sonicky, S-O-N-I-C-K-Y.

And it basically describes exactly what you’re referring to.

This idea that they sound kind of the way they mean.

So it’s a little bit about meaning, but they come from your mouth with some kind of clue as to the way that they’re to be received.

For example, fuzzy or sleek, right?

Fuzzy is a little fuzzy because of the Z’s and sleek is a little sleek because of the E’s.

But that does refer to the meaning.

And it’s kind of like mouthfeel in that it’s not quite right.

And then there’s the German word, and pardon me if my German pronunciation isn’t very good.

Martha, you know this one, right?

Sprockyfuhl.

Sprockyfuhl or something.

It’s S-P-R-A-C-H-G-E-F-U-H-L, usually with the double dots over the U.

But that’s more a feel for the language.

Yeah.

It’s a feel for…

Yeah.

So it’s not quite right either.

It sounds like what you’re describing is sort of a low-grade synesthesia in a way.

You know, are you familiar with that book?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, The Man Who Tasted Shapes.

Or perhaps kinesthesia, right?

The relation of thought to movement.

I was thinking of that earlier.

I had that word in my head.

We’re going to keep looking for you and see if we can come up with something else.

Those are the best candidates that we have.

Sonicky, sprocky foil, and mouthfeel.

But none of them are quite right.

Somewhere in the intersection of those three words maybe is our answer.

All right.

Well, I think the synesthesia part and the kinesthetic element is kind of where my brain is on it.

And mouth feels very close, too.

Okay.

Very good.

Thanks for calling, Tracy.

If you come up with anything or we’ll come up with anything, we’ll trade messages, all right?

Oh, excellent.

Thank you so much.

Okay, thank you.

Bye-bye.

Bye.