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Here's why you hate the word 'moist'
http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/Here-s-why-you-hate-the-word-moist-7388025.phpWhy do so many people shudder at hearing the word "moist"?...
In the newest study, which is comprised of five individual tests, Thibodeau concludes that 10-20 percent of people are "averse" to the word "moist." As it notes, those who participated in previous surveys supposed that the root of their aversion to the word was due to its "phonological properties," or, what is defined as the "the distribution and patterning of speech sounds." However, as the results of Thibodeau's new work suggest, the aversion is actually derived from an inherent linking of the word to bodily functions (conscious or unconscious)....
In the second and third experiments, participants were asked to describe why they find the word so gross. "If participants really do find the word 'moist' aversive, then responses in a free association task may help to reveal why," the study reads. "People who find 'moist' aversive may be more likely to generate a lexical associate related to disgust — especially if the semantic connotation of 'moist' is responsible for the aversion."...
The findings were not surprising. As it concluded, "Results of the experiments suggest that as much as 20 percent of the American English speaking population may be averse to 'moist' and that this aversion is related to age, gender, neuroticism, education, and a particular kind of disgust to bodily functions." Furthermore, it found that those who hate the word tended to associate it more with words that were "semantically related" to moist (like "wet" and "damp"
and words that reference bodily functions (like "phlegm" and "puke" .
In the newest study, which is comprised of five individual tests, Thibodeau concludes that 10-20 percent of people are "averse" to the word "moist." As it notes, those who participated in previous surveys supposed that the root of their aversion to the word was due to its "phonological properties," or, what is defined as the "the distribution and patterning of speech sounds." However, as the results of Thibodeau's new work suggest, the aversion is actually derived from an inherent linking of the word to bodily functions (conscious or unconscious)....
In the second and third experiments, participants were asked to describe why they find the word so gross. "If participants really do find the word 'moist' aversive, then responses in a free association task may help to reveal why," the study reads. "People who find 'moist' aversive may be more likely to generate a lexical associate related to disgust — especially if the semantic connotation of 'moist' is responsible for the aversion."...
The findings were not surprising. As it concluded, "Results of the experiments suggest that as much as 20 percent of the American English speaking population may be averse to 'moist' and that this aversion is related to age, gender, neuroticism, education, and a particular kind of disgust to bodily functions." Furthermore, it found that those who hate the word tended to associate it more with words that were "semantically related" to moist (like "wet" and "damp"
and words that reference bodily functions (like "phlegm" and "puke" .Moist moist moist moist moist moist moist moist moist moist moist.
23 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
all the endless crap on the airwaves about antiperspirants, feminine hygiene products, and incontinence supplies have everybody worrying about how "moist" various body regions are.
