#8: Your Name Tastes Funny

Synesthesia is when you experience one of your senses through another. Some people see colors when they hear music. Others taste shapes. One person on this thread shared that they have the rarest form of synesthesia: she tastes written and spoken words. This form of synesthesia is called lexical-gustatory, and only about 0.2% of the population has it.

She shared some insight into this fascinating experience, explaining that certain words taste good and others taste bad. The word “Sam” tastes like a lemon-lime flavor with a hint of salt, for example. As a kid, she’d repeat words that tasted good to her and avoid saying words that tasted gross. As an adult, she’s able to ignore it for the most part.