Please like why is there 4 different words for other things that are “sour”??
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Your taste buds are purpose-driven:
* Sweetness is the detector for *calories*, since sugar is pretty calorie-packed and starvation has been a major concern for most of human history.
* Sourness is the detector for *acids*, which your body uses to try and find necessary vitamins.
* Saltiness is the detector for…well…salt, because your body needs it. It’s the only single-material taste detector we have.
* Bitterness is the detector for *bases*, because many botanical poisons are alkaline and this was an early-warning system for people to spit out whatever they were trying to eat. This is also why younger people tend to dislike bitter foods like black coffee, because “bitter means danger!” is hard-wired into your brain and it takes time to learn to override that.
There are multiple words for similar things because that’s just how languages work. This is called a “connotation”: when a word has more complex associations than what its literal meaning may be. So, “sour” and “tart” and “tangy” basically all mean the same thing, but “tangy” might be used indicate that it’s a more pleasant kind of sourness, while “tart” indicates something a bit more “mouth-puckering”. “Sour” is the “default” meaning, more or less. Then “bitter” is completely different as discussed above.
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