"Spicyness"

[Anonymous No.19505369]

Explain something to an esl
When I talk to English speakers about food, often I illicit a strong reaction and get called crazy because of the way I use the word "spicy". See, to me, "spicy" describes anything that can cause a stinging sensation on your tongue, even if slight. Raw garlic, onion, radishes, some varieties of eggplant, black pepper, cabbage cores, raw kohlrabi, etc.

But I'm starting to think that to English speakers, spicy only refers to anything with chilli peppers/capsaicin? Is that the case or nah? Please clear up

[Anonymous No.19505377]

oh, also mustard

[Anonymous No.19505381]

White people be like
>Cabbage and onion is spicy

[Anonymous No.19505382]

"Spicy" mostly means "hot". If a dish is loaded with spices, but it's not necessarily hot, you'd probably describe it as "heavily spiced" or words to that effect.

[Anonymous No.19505386]

>>19505369
Spicy means a strong flavour from a spice (particularly hot ones). You can literally open a dictionary, why even make a thread

[sage No.19505389]

>>19505377
Conventionally spicy is primarily reserved for capsaicin, yes, that other stuff is typically called “hot” or “has heat”. Strong is another word used. But nobody would ever be confused or call you crazy for saying they are spicy, you’re just trolling obviously.

[Anonymous No.19505392]

>>19505386
That's not how most English users use that. Nobody is putting in too much cumin and calling it spicy.

[Anonymous No.19505394]

>>19505382
>>19505386
>>19505389
>>19505392
four different answers, three of them calling me retarded for not knowing the answer which should be self evident even though all four are different, and you're telling me i'm making it up to troll

[Anonymous No.19505397]

>>19505369
Raw garlic and raw onions are indeed spicy. The people you're talking to have obviously never tried them.

[Anonymous No.19505398]

>>19505369
it's not just capsaicin. most of them probably haven't tried biting into a raw onion so they just don't associate it with spicy. but you are correct, black pepper and horseradish are kinds of spicy.

[Anonymous No.19505403]

>>19505398
and check out sichuan peppercorns for another interesting spicy

[sage No.19505406]

>>19505394
Nobody called you retarded, you fucking retard.

[Anonymous No.19505407]

There's the burning kind of spice like chili's, and the numbing kind of spice like peppercorns
The garlic and onions would be more on the spectrum of pungent, zippy, or zesty

[Anonymous No.19505410]

>>19505394
These two (>>19505382 and >>19505392)
are not different, ESLfriend.

[Anonymous No.19505414]

When we say spicy we generally mean something like hot peppers. I have seen the term used to describe things like toothpaste ir mustard, but only by children.

[sage No.19505415]

>>19505398
>>19505397
Every American has had raw onions, and most have had horseradish and fake wasabi. The convention in America is to call those things hot or strong, not spicy. Black pepper would be called peppery.

[Anonymous No.19505445]

>>19505369
>>19505377
>Raw garlic, onion, radishes, some varieties of eggplant, black pepper, cabbage cores, raw kohlrabi, etc
In English, a most of those are described more as bitter or sour rather than spicy.
It's not that they aren't spicy, just that they make you feel like you need to pucker or scrape your tongue rather than sooth it with ice. That last one is what most English speakers think of with "spicy", if that makes sense.

[Anonymous No.19505449]

>>19505415
Our wasabi isnt real?

[sage No.19505451]

>>19505449
It’s horseradish mostly.

[Anonymous No.19505453]

>>19505449
A lot of "wasabi" is actually dyed horseradish.

[sage No.19505469]

>>19505445
Eh, maybe in England but I’ve never heard of anyone in America calling onions or horseradish bitter or sour. It’s all pretty loose, but I think of it like this: if it hits your sinuses hard, like horseradish, it’s strong; if it hit hits your tongue hard, like raw onions, it’s hot; if it causes you to feel heat in your mouth/face, like capsaicin, it’s spicy. Going one step further, spicy also mostly refers to capsaicin seasoned dishes. If it’s just a raw pepper on its own, you’d probably call it hot more often than spicy.

[Anonymous No.19505472]

>>19505469
We use hot and spicy interchangeably here, and it only refers to hot peppers or chili

[Anonymous No.19505474]

>>19505398
Those things are classified as peppery or pungent tastes, in fact things like garlic and horseradish don't even use the same taste receptors as spicy tastes do.

[Anonymous No.19505475]

>>19505369
>I'm starting to think that to English speakers, spicy only refers to anything with chilli peppers/capsaicin?
Yeah that sounds about right, although I'd say that garlic and radishes might fit in there. Maybe even black pepper, and anything that gets in your nose like horseradish. For instance I'm pretty sure most of us would call English and Chinese mustards spicy.
>some varieties of eggplant
>cabbage cores, raw kohlrabi
Yeah those aren't things that come to mind when I think of spice. I'm pretty sure that I'm at least somewhat familiar with the sensation you're describing but I wouldn't call it spicy.

[Anonymous No.19505488]

>>19505369
You're completely correct. It's possible these people dont eat things like whole radishes or raw garlic often enough to understand that they are spicy, so they think you're saying a julienned radish garnish or a garlic sauce is spicy. I havent even eaten cabbage cores so i dont know.

And add ginger and lemongrass to the list of non-chili spicy foods.

[Anonymous No.19505501]

me mum used to give me cabbage cores as a treat when she was cutting cabbages and i couldn't wait until lunch was ready. that's how i know what they taste like
also, chicken cartilages

>>19505389
Hate to say it, because this guy was mean, but he seems to be the closest to the truth. One sensation is heat, another is spicy. It's the same word for both in my Slav language so I never thought about the difference between the two before.

>>19505398
>>19505488
thanks for agreeing frens, but it seems we might be in the minority here.

[Anonymous No.19505511]

>>19505369
>spicy only refers to anything with chilli peppers/capsaicin?
generally yes
we don't seem to have a word to describe wasabi/mustard spice. people says it "clears your nose/sinuses"

[Anonymous No.19505516]

>>19505386
>Spicy means a strong flavour from a spice
What's the proper English word for that? The language seems to be very limited when it comes to culinairy terms compared to French or German.

[Anonymous No.19505541]

>>19505501
>but it seems we might be in the minority here.
New guy here. Im american and onions, garlic, and horseraddish do indeed hve their own kind of spice.
I cant imagine the type of turbofaggot irl >>19505407 that would describe that stuff as
>pungent, peppery, zippy, or zesty
All of which happen to be a different way to say spicy

[Anonymous No.19505548]

>>19505511
I think its the usage of the word. Like i would say those things have a spice to them, they have spice, but not necessarily that they are spicy

[Anonymous No.19505553]

>>19505394
it's because traditional english cuisine has no chili so they had to juryrig in the word 'hot' after the fact. in countries that commonly use chili, you would have a specific word for the hotness of chili.

[Anonymous No.19505560]

>>19505541
Nta but the turbo faggot is right, the sensation is different and the tongue tastes them with different parts other than spicy taste receptors.

[Anonymous No.19505624]

>>19505560
Wrong, you black tar baboon. Spicy doesnt exclusively mean hot from peppers. Just because you can only use the word in that singular context doesn't mean everyone else has to

[Anonymous No.19505655]

>>19505415
Americans do call wasabi/horseradish spicy often. maybe not the others normally. they might say it has a "kick"
just search for keywords like "raw garlic spicy" and "black pepper spicy" you'll see people referring to them as such. of course at the amount and manner that people use black pepper, they might not think it is spicy, but try accidentally biting into a whole black pepper corn.

[Anonymous No.19505668]

>>19505624
You are by definition wrong much less biologically wrong.

[Anonymous No.19505678]

most people don't know this, but cilantro is legit spicy if you eat it raw in large amounts. it builds up. i don't have the soap gene either. i was munching on them to cleanse me of heavy metals just in case.

[Anonymous No.19505725]

i've heard different terms.
"Spice" being accents you add to a dish, dill, saffron
"Spicy" equating to piquant, pungent with heat
"Hot" means temperature, not seasoning
but i am extremely drunk and can't articulate more right now

[Anonymous No.19505726]

Turmeric is a spice but few people would call a turmeric heavy dish "spicy" even though it would technically be correct, it's mostly just a colloquial thing. When people call things spicy they typically mean heat from chili peppers

[Anonymous No.19505728]

>>19505725
Hot wings are spicy.
Plain wings are still served hot.

Great language.

[Anonymous No.19505731]

>>19505728
Bear with me but bears don't have the right to bear arms

[Anonymous No.19505735]

>>19505726
that's different. people do call raw garlic, wasabi, raw onions, etc as being spicy. the ingredient itself being spicy, not being a spice or food that has a lot of it as being spicy.

[Anonymous No.19505746]

>>19505735
we just don't have enough adjectives which is why we see "umami" being persecuted once a day

[Anonymous No.19505748]

>>19505735
Sometimes, but they don't mean it in the same way and most people will try to find a different descriptor for it. Nobody thinks chinese "hot" mustard is the same kind of "spicy" as tabasco sauce

[Anonymous No.19505766]

>>19505748
yes, but it's still different from the turmeric example of calling something spicy if it has a lot of spice. usage of spicy for things like horse radish is more related to the way people call chili peppers spicy. it's still spicy, but in different way than the lingering chili pepper spiciness.
maybe raw turmeric has a spicy note since it's a ginger and people call ginger spicy

[Anonymous No.19505772]

>>19505369
Good luck with your ongoing study, sorry this language is fucking retarded

[Anonymous No.19505796]

I think horseradish or wasabi could be called spicy

[Anonymous No.19506237]

>>19505415
I have been American my whole life. You are disingenuous in saying every American has bitten into a whole raw onion on its own. Further, no, people do not describe things as peppery nor strong. I assume you are Midwestern. >>19505474
You are just retarded. Of course they use different receptors, they feel different. To limit spicy solely to capsaicin is not American behavior and you just aren't American.
Thank you and good luck OP

[Anonymous No.19506242]

>>19505501
>>19506237
we aren't in the minority. these are /ck/ users posting. one of them called wasabi "hot." the word hot is particularly for capsaicin, not others. They're clearly phonies.

[Anonymous No.19506347]

you can't say 'this onion is spicy', you say 'this onion tastes sharp'.

[Anonymous No.19506364]

>>19505501
>give me cabbage cores
Italian/Swiss?
Cuz my mum did the same. Tastes like radish. Same tongue-tingle. Love that shit.

[Anonymous No.19506369]

>>19505553
Piquant. English originally used the word "piquant" for chilli sensation, as it had for other things (like ginger) but its been replaced wholesale by "hot" and "spicy."

[Anonymous No.19506372]

Americans say rocket (aRuGuLa to them) is peppery.

[sage No.19506424]

>>19505655
Like I said countless times, it’s all very loose, it’s about convention, not specific language. Overwhelmingly people call black pepper peppery, not spicy.

[Anonymous No.19506434]

>>19505369
where I am it depends on the context. you can use it the way you want but you need to add a bit of specificity like "this horseradish is really spicy", better to use the word strong or something though. Spicy is usually without context used for capsaicin heat as you say.
The best way to describe the issue is with the fact that you dream a dream (or have a dream), you don't make a dream (or something). Its just a subtle thing that doesn't sound right, even though grammatically correct (speakers aint usuallt got any clue why though). You just have to listen more, steven krashen or antimoon or something is the kind of thing that can fix this

[Anonymous No.19506443]

>>19506237
I said every American has eaten raw onions, not bitten into a whole one, you illiterate retard. And I’m from Texas, but I’ve lived all over and was a writer for fifteen years. Hardly anybody calls onions or garlic or horseradish spicy. They are strong, pungent if the person is educated, maybe hot, almost never spicy. Too much black pepper is even more overwhelmingly called peppery. You’re just a zoomer shit who only knows nigger talk.

[Anonymous No.19506449]

>>19505369
I get what you mean, there isn't really a better word for that taste you describe. Maybe tangy?

But yeah most people will think you mean hot spicy.

[Anonymous No.19506664]

>>19505369
spicy only refers to heat.

[Anonymous No.19506751]

>>19505381
Cash you pass the seasoning (lawry’s seasoned salt)?

[Anonymous No.19506759]

>>19506664
heat only refers to cooking temp

[Anonymous No.19506770]

>>19506664
I beg to differ!

[Anonymous No.19506810]

>>19505397
No, I would call those “sharp”, not spicy.

[Anonymous No.19506820]

>>19505369
What someone means when they say spicy is largely dependent on context, as is much of English. In the US, generally it is used to refer to capsaicin like "heat" levels, but not always!

[Anonymous No.19506972]

>>19505445
>bitter or sour
No American thinks garlic/onion is either of those things, the word you're looking for is savory.

[Anonymous No.19507039]

>>19505369
"Spicy" refers to any food that produces a burning sensation when eaten. Anybody who says otherwise is a pedantic autist that's upsetti their meme culinary """""degree""""" hasn't done jack shit for them other than to embolden their
>well ackshuallly
posting.

>>19505389
>>19505407
>>19505414
>>19505415
>>19505469
>>19505474
>>19505511
>>19505560
>>19506443
These are examples of such people. Do not take their opinions to heart or even consideration. They are divorced from reality and live in a world where all people act how they imagine that they should.

[Anonymous No.19507115]

>>19505369
Yeah I would call raw onion and garlic spic.

[Anonymous No.19507126]

>>19507115
Kinda racist anon

[Anonymous No.19507131]

>>19507039
>akshually, this raw onion IS spicy, TECHNICALLY, spicy is...
you're the one being pedantic.

[Anonymous No.19507143]

>ESLs trying to teach ESLs: The Thread
spicy = capsaicin
heavily spiced = lots of spices

anything else is specific
examples:
>wow, that garlic is strong
>whoa, the amount of wasabi in this is overpowering
>I love how heavy they went on the black pepper
In these examples, "spicy" is very unspecific to the point of uselessness, so it's best to describe specifically what is strong about the spices or aromatics used.

[Anonymous No.19507154]

>>19507143
You talk like a faggot and your shits all retarded

[Anonymous No.19507180]

>>19507143
To complicate things further, usually people in the US say "hot" when they refer to capsaicin levels in any given dish.

[Anonymous No.19507263]

>>19507039
>"Spicy" refers to any food that produces a burning sensation when eaten.
WRONG
Spicy = It has spice
Spice = Seasoning
Any seasoned food is spicy, even if it's just salt. Capsaicin or any other mouth heating substance is "hot". Any seasoning is spice but not every spice is hot. In my language hot food is called "apimentado" which means "peppered"

[Anonymous No.19507287]

>>19507263
This deep into the thread and people are still responding like they alone hold the secrets of the universal meaning of the word spicy

[Anonymous No.19507953]

>>19507263
>In my language
so you admit that you are esl. "spicy" means capsaicin. the taste of raw onion is "pungent." in america if you try to say that a radish is spicy they will either assume you are esl and don't know the right word, or will make fun of you for being white, depending on your skin color.

[Anonymous No.19507966]

>>19507263
>Any seasoned food is spicy, even if it's just salt
>this pretzel is spicy!
ishygddt

[Anonymous No.19508597]

different people use words differently and get upsetti spaghetti when you use them slightly differently. it's just retards and autists doing what they do.

[Anonymous No.19508599]

where the hell are you from that onions and eggplant are spicy

[Anonymous No.19508613]

>>19505369
English isn’t free. Fuck you, pay me if want English lessons. I’ll accept feet pics posted itt.

[Anonymous No.19508626]

>>19505369
English, brits dont know jack shit about peppers.
Behold these in this pic. the brits wouldn't know jack about them.
Why are brits so utterly retarded?

[Anonymous No.19508627]

when people say "spicy" they are almost always referring to the amount of capsascin in the dish and the sensation it causes. no one uses it to describe how many spices are in a dish, that's retarded (although i could see why some would find it intuitive...unfortunately english is full of examples like this)

something like wasabi/horseradish? you'd say "this is a burning sensation/this is burning my nostrils"

there, now /thread

[Anonymous No.19508640]

>>19508626
Don't know why UK doesn't give a shit about peppers

[Anonymous No.19508641]

>>19508640
Might be because brits are tastelet weirdos?

[Anonymous No.19508647]

>>19508641
shut the fuck up, my ancestors fought holy wars over black pepper so you mutts can have seasoned food, you nigger faggots wouldnt even have any sort of cuisine if it wasnt for us

[Anonymous No.19508650]

>>19508641
Maybe taken as a whole, but there are usually pockets of autists doing something more tasteful

[Anonymous No.19508651]

>>19508647
lol

[Anonymous No.19508653]

>>19508647
Suck my cottage cheese you british fuck

[Anonymous No.19508663]

>>19506770
I remember that movie. Dune, it came with a translation sheet.

[Anonymous No.19508682]

ESLs be like ooh this Raw garlic, onion, radishes, some varieties of eggplant, black pepper, cabbage cores, raw kohlrabi be too spicy

[Anonymous No.19508702]

>>19508682
Those brits need some horse meat, they're pretty retarded otherwise.

[Anonymous No.19508734]

>>19508647
You can’t use those slurs online, Nigel. Wait for the knock, child.