sour

Everyday

1. Sour food has a sharp taste, like a lemon or vinegar. tree →
2. Milk turns sour when it goes bad. tree →
3. A sour person or mood is bad-tempered and unfriendly. tree →
4. To sour means to become worse or less friendly. tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons sour is one of the basic tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami) and is caused by acids. In stories a sour face shows someone is cross. Phrases: «go sour», «turn sour», «sour cream», «sweet and sour», «sour grapes».

Examples

• Lemons taste very sour. tree →
• The milk has gone sour, so don't drink it. tree →
• Sour sweets make my mouth tingle. tree →
• She gave me a sour look. tree →
• The game turned sour when they started cheating. tree →
• We had sweet and sour chicken for dinner. tree →
• Saying the prize was boring was just sour grapes. tree →
• He next flew to the anemones; these were rather sour to his taste. tree →

Note

Opposite of sweet. «Sour grapes» = pretending you did not want something you could not get. Sour milk smells bad; do not drink it. Sour taste comes from acids, like citric acid in lemons. Rhymes with «power».

In Jewish tradition

Sour grapes were a proverb in which the fathers eat sour grapes and the children's teeth feel it.

Interpretation. Jeremiah and Ezekiel reject the proverb and teach that each person is responsible for his own wrongdoing. Tradition sees this as a basic teaching of personal responsibility.

Examples

• In those days they shall say no more: 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' (Prophets JER.31.29, JPS 1917) tree →
• But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man that eateth the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. (Prophets JER.31.30, JPS 1917) tree →
• 'What mean ye, that ye use this proverb in the land of Israel, saying: The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? (Prophets EZK.18.2, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Opposite of sweet. «Sour grapes» = pretending you did not want something you could not get. Sour milk smells bad; do not drink it. Sour taste comes from acids, like citric acid in lemons. Rhymes with «power».