the.com/tanginess
The flavor of a molecule yelling 'I'm an acid!' at your tongue.
means The quality of having a sharp, zesty, sour-edged flavor.
from Traces back to 'tang,' which first meant a sharp point or biting taste — possibly from Old Norse 'tangi,' a sharp spit of land or a tool's pointed tang (the part that stabs into the handle). The word drifted from 'something that pierces' to 'a taste that pierces,' and 'tanginess' is simply the noun form of that sting, turned into a quality you can measure.
- the science
- low pH means more free hydrogen ions
- taste buds
- sour receptors detect acidity, not sugar content
- evolution's logic
- sour warned ancestors food had gone bad
- paradox
- unripe and rotten both taste tangy, for different reasons