A man has a rare condition due to which he can taste, smell, and feel words. Strange, isn’t it? He has revealed the names that are delicious and the ones that taste like urine.
What is lexical-gustatory synaesthesia?
Henry Gray, from Newcastle, has a condition called lexical-gustatory synaesthesia. It means that he can taste, smell or have a feeling associated with words. Synaesthesia is a neurological condition that results in the joining or merging of senses that aren’t normally connected.
People with the condition can often taste or smell when hearing, speaking, reading, or thinking about words.
‘Kirsty’ smells like urine
Henry said that the word ‘off’ smells like rotting while ‘because’ is like a split wooden clothes peg. He claims that he is affected by some names such as ‘Kirsty’ which smells like urine to him. Adding to it, he even had to move out of university halls to avoid the name.
Henry discovered that he had the condition in 2009. It was after his parents and teachers picked up on him commenting on his tastes for his classmate’s names.
For him, the name Boris Johnson tastes like “squishing a hard-shelled beetle with his foot”. While Harry Styles is like “hair sticking up like telephone wires.” Donald Trump is like a “deflating rubber duck”.
He described the name Jennifer Lawrence as “like sniffing inside of a shoe” and Kim Kardashian as “vaguely kind of like quickly ruffling handkerchiefs around in a hand” to him.
He said that the name Emma Watson is like “a tiny pebble dropping into a puddle and it ripples”.
“I’ve always associated words and names with tastes, smells, and feelings – it’s all I’ve ever known,” says Henry.
Most of the time I quite like having synaesthesia: Henry
He said, “One of the worst names for me is Kirsty which is the faint smell of urine. I’m not sure I could be close friends with or date Kirsty. It’s hard but I do judge people based on their taste or smell with their name. It’s always strongest when I first hear a name or am introduced to someone, but I can normally tune it out in day-to-day life.”
He continued, “But at university when I moved into halls I was in a flat with Duncan, Kirsty, and Elijah. I had to change accommodation because they’re some of the worst names. I couldn’t form a friendship with them or live with them so I changed halls.”
Interestingly, Henry assumed that everyone was able to smell or taste words until his parents and teachers pulled him up on his comments on classmate’s names. “I would say things like Lucy is like a big red lollipop when they called her name out in the register and everyone would look at me confused,” he said. He added, “Most of the time I quite like having synaesthesia and it doesn’t get in the way.”
“The name Francesca is one of my favorites and is silky warm chocolate coffee. I love the name Alice which is sliced apples and my sister’s name. Hayley is like faint soft music,” he said.