Does it sound natural?

Forums: English, Esl, Grammar
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If not, please edit it:

The hotchpotch made of English words and Chinese characters is not delicious, rather, it shows that your taste is quite poor.

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@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

If not, please edit it:

The hotchpotch made of English words and Chinese characters is not delicious, rather, it shows that your taste is quite poor.

If the sentiment is spoken then:
The hodgepodge made of English and Chinese words is not delicious, rather, it shows that your taste is quite poor.

If the sentiment is written then:
The hodgepodge made of English words and Chinese characters is not delicious, rather, it shows that your taste is quite poor.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hodgepodge
Very poetic sentiment.

1 Reply

@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

If not, please edit it:

The hotchpotch made of English words and Chinese characters is not delicious, rather, it shows that your taste is quite poor.

The more common spelling is 'hodgepodge' meaning a messy mixture of things.

Interestingly one of the synonyms provided by Tsar's link is Jambalaya , a combination of rice, sausage, chicken, vegetables and hot sauce, but they fit together deliciously; a hodgepodge, as your sentence indicates, has pieces that don't quite mix.

Now I am going to throw an English idiom at you:

The hodgepodge made of English words and Chinese characters is not delicious; it shows that your taste is all in your mouth.

Joe(Okay, everybody...chime in with explanations)Nation

1 Reply

@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

oristarA wrote:

If not, please edit it:

The hotchpotch made of English words and Chinese characters is not delicious, rather, it shows that your taste is quite poor.

If the sentiment is spoken then:
The hodgepodge made of English and Chinese words is not delicious, rather, it shows that your taste is quite poor.

If the sentiment is written then:
The hodgepodge made of English words and Chinese characters is not delicious, rather, it shows that your taste is quite poor.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hodgepodge
Very poetic sentiment.

Thank you.

"taste is quite poor" sounds modest/euphemistic. I wonder whether " your taste is crappy" works when the writer wants to be tough?

1 Reply

@oristarA,

Quote:

I wonder whether " your taste is crappy" works when the writer wants to be tough?

If the writer wants to sound like a jerk then "crappy" would be the appropriate word of choice. The choice of "poor" is much softer and more gentle. Not knowing the context of the sentence, I prefer the less mean spirited choice of "poor."

1 Reply

@Joe Nation,

Joe Nation wrote:

Now I am going to throw an English idiom at you:

The hodgepodge made of English words and Chinese characters is not delicious; it shows that your taste is all in your mouth.

Joe(Okay, everybody...chime in with explanations)Nation

Failed to understand " all in your mouth." Is it a euphemism of self-spiritual-masturbation?

1 Reply

@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

Quote:
I wonder whether " your taste is crappy" works when the writer wants to be tough?

If the writer wants to sound like a jerk then "crappy" would be the appropriate word of choice. The choice of "poor" is much softer and more gentle. Not knowing the context of the sentence, I prefer the less mean spirited choice of "poor."

Got it!
Broad-minded is vital.
Thank you.

0 Replies

@oristarA,

I have no idea (and I'm not sure I want to know) what self-spiritual masturbation is?

Your taste is all in your mouth.
A person who is tasteful or who has taste is considered a good judge of quality whether in the arts or in music, fashion or wonderfully prepared foods. So their tastes are wide spread and reach out to many areas.

Something that has taste is something of good quality, the best of the better things, better art, better or more refined fashion.

A person who lacks good taste is said to have all of his taste in his mouth, meaning he has NO taste when it comes to art or music etc, but is simply limited to the sense of taste that everyone has.
It's a play on the different meanings between
Taste~ good choices of quality
and
Taste~the common ability to detect sweet, sour, bitter and salty.

So your sentence rewritten could be :

Quote:

That hodgepodge of English words and Chinese symbols you put together has taste, too bad it's a bad taste.

Does it sound natural?

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