An acquired taste is something that you do not like at first but that you begin to like after trying it a few times; something that a lot of people do not like when they first experience it but that they often start liking after they have experienced it more times; something you don’t appreciate immediately but that you ‘learn’ to like.
Many things can be described as an acquired taste. For example, someone might say that jazz music is an acquired taste. In this way, it is similar to the idiom ‘grows on you.’ Both sentences below have the same meaning.
Example: Jazz music is an acquired taste. / Jass music grows on you.
Describing Personalities and People
While “acquired taste” originated in reference to food, drink, and art, it is widely used to describe people and personalities. When a person is called an “acquired taste,” it implies they have idiosyncratic traits, a dry sense of humor, or a blunt demeanor that may initially off-put strangers, but becomes charming or endearing once people get to know them better.
Origin of Acquired Taste
The phrase acquired taste has been used since the 1800s. The word acquired is used in the sense of something one learns or develops and while the word taste is used primarily to refer to food, it can refer to anything that someone likes or enjoys, such as one’s taste in music or their taste in movies.
Movie Citations
In film and television, screenwriters use “acquired taste” both literally for unusual foods and figuratively to describe eccentric personalities or dubious products:
- A Beautiful Mind (2002): Demonstrating how the idiom applies to unusual or prickly personalities, John Nash self-deprecatingly acknowledges his difficult demeanor to a colleague: “John, besides, you’re a terrible teacher.” “I’m an acquired taste, Martin. I was hoping there still might be something I could contribute.”
- Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015): Using the phrase for dry, understated humor when evaluating low quality, a character comments on off-tasting alcohol: “Is it just me, or does this champagne taste a little bit funny?” “It’s an acquired taste, mate.” “I think it’s just cheap.”
- Natural Born Killers (1994): In a roadside diner scene, a server cautions a customer about a specific regional pie flavor: “Which do you recommend?” “The key lime’s great, but it’s an acquired taste.”
- Johnny English (2003): Highlighting gourmet foods with unappealing traits, characters discuss high-end seafood: “They say that sea urchin’s the ultimate acquired taste.” “Hmm. It’s a personal favorite of mine. I think people are put off by how it feeds through its bottom.”
Sentence Examples
“I didn’t always like Scotch. It’s an acquired taste.”
“I can’t believe you eat raw oysters!” “They’re an acquired taste. You have to keep trying them.”
“People who say they hate to exercise don’t realize that exercise can be an acquired taste. The more you do it, the more you enjoy it.”
Similar and Related Idioms
- Grow on Someone: To gradually become more liked, appreciated, or appealing to someone over a period of time.
- Warm (Up) To: To become friendlier, more comfortable with, or more receptive to a person, idea, or situation.
- Take To: To develop an immediate or natural liking, affection, or affinity for someone or something.
- Take a Shine To: To suddenly develop a strong, spontaneous liking or fondness for a person.
- Take a Liking To: To begin to like or feel drawn toward someone or something after an initial encounter.
More Taste Idioms
- There’s No Accounting for Taste: A phrase used to express surprise, amusement, or confusion at someone’s unusual preferences, acknowledging that personal likes and dislikes cannot be logically explained.
- A Matter of Taste: Something that is entirely subjective and depends on individual personal preferences rather than objective facts or rules.
- Good / Bad Taste: Referring to whether something conforms to accepted social standards of modesty, elegance, and propriety (good taste) or offends them by being vulgar, crude, or inappropriate (bad taste).
- In Poor Taste: Describing a joke, remark, or action that is insensitive, offensive, or inappropriate for a given situation or audience.
- Leave a Bad Taste in Someone’s Mouth: To leave a person with a lingering feeling of disgust, resentment, or dissatisfaction after an unpleasant experience or revelation.
- A Taste of One’s Own Medicine: Experiencing the exact same unpleasant, harsh, or unfair treatment that one has routinely inflicted on others.