i might be insane
So I’m in the process of rewriting bios for everyone at my office to post on our Web site. In order to make them shorter, consistent, and more fun to read, I made a questionnaire for everyone to fill out. One of those questions was: “What is one thing that not many people know about you?” It wasn’t until I started filling out my own questionnaire that I realized how hard that question was. Usually, if there’s something people don’t know about me, there’s a reason for that.
Then it came to me. I have lexical-gustatory synesthesia. That’s a fancy way of saying I taste words.
I learned the term “synesthesia” on a news show like Dateline or something. It means that two senses combine. I’ve heard of people who could hear colors or see sounds, but I only recently found out the name for my specific type of synesthesia.
It wasn’t until college when I told anyone that I had this strange ability. I was born with it, so it was a long time before I realized that it might be unusual. And I was right. When I did start to tell people, they looked at me like I had just stripped naked and smeared pudding all over myself.
But this condition really does affect me more than I realize. I mean, if I were trying to come up with a name for my child, I’d have to make sure it didn’t taste bad since I would be saying the name over and over for the rest of my life. Annette tastes like snot, Cody tastes like baby food, Douglas tastes like roach spray smells, you get the idea (or maybe you don’t and you’re thinking I should be on meds). Fortunately I didn’t marry someone with a bad tasting name. Same deal.
Furthermore, I think part of the reason I took eight years of Spanish was because nearly all Spanish words taste like Mexican food. Spanish class was delicious 
It has also made for some interesting conversations like this one with a co-worker:
CW: So, what does God taste like?
Me: Marshmallows
CW: But when you eat marshmallows you don’t think of God?
Me: No.
CW: Awesome!
But as odd as this condition may be, I think it helps me as a writer. I feel words in ways most people can’t, so I have a unique perspective. God must have mapped that out. Mmmm…marshmallows.
June 24th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Very, very cool.
June 24th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Which makes me curious as to what Danish words would taste like. Unfortunately, to anyone who doesn’t speak it - it sounds like someone who has had a tracheotomy talking with a potato stuffed in their throat and in order to speak it, you’ve got to be able to talk with the back of your tongue. Dang.
June 24th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
I dunno. You’d have to speak it for me (which would be a total trip). But i can tell you the word Danish tastes like a danish. Go figure
June 25th, 2008 at 8:43 am
I like it!!! I don’t think you’re crazy, well maybe you are but I just don’t know it because I am also crazy!! Here’s a little mid-morning snack for you -Hola, mi llamo es Amanda. Buenos dias! Thought you might want a little Mexican treat!
June 25th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Well look who finally commented
You are indeed crazy. That is why I like you. Thanks for the snack!
June 25th, 2008 at 10:26 am
I’m jealous. To me words taste like … words. So boring and not at all filling.
June 25th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
When you began discribing what words were tasting like to us, it generated some concerned, whispered conversations between your mother and I. Ultimately we just decided that it was one more way that God had made you special. I hope “family” tastes good to you.
June 25th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Special is a nice way to put it. And, for the record, “family” tastes like Chef Boyardee Ravioli, so yeah - two thumbs up
June 26th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Can’t recall how I found you…but this post? Fascinating! I adore words AND I’m a food blogger - why can’t I have this sensory experience? All I can say is, my name better taste like cake, otherwise it’s all for naught.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Welcome Ann! Glad you stopped by! That would be a cool thing for a food blogger to have! I would love to tell you that your name tastes like cake, but, to me, Ann has always been hamburger meat with ketchup. What a sophisticated palate I have
July 7th, 2008 at 4:14 am
What an amazing gift! I never knew a tasting-words person before, I’ve always thought life HAD to have some sort of magic in it, and as I live on, I try to find the magical things, like the real deal magic things in life. This is one of them, you are like a word fairy, a real one! How neat.
¡Eres una hada de las palabras en la vida real!