OK, "we all know" there are five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell. There are common English words to describe the absence of only three of them: blind, deaf, and numb. Why don't we have words for the absence of the senses of taste and smell? I have a friend who has no sense of smell and one thing that's odd is there's no single word for it! Or is there? Does any of you know? Could the docs aBoard at least tell us the medical terms for smell-less and taste-less?

Anosmia
anosmia
n.
5ModL < Gr an3, without + osmc, smell (see ODOR) + 3IA6 total or partial loss of the sense of smell
an[os4mic 73mik8
adj.

Thanks, Dr. Bill. I'll be sure to tell my friend that she's anosmic. Great word.

hypoguesia = diminished seense of taste.
So far I haven't found absence of taste. Still trying.

Ageusia: The inability to taste sweet, sour, bitter, or salty substances. Some people can taste but their ability to do so is reduced; they are said to have hypogeusia.

aguesia?

- My dog has no nose

- How does he smell?

- Awful

My dog has no nose

- How does he smell?


I don't know - I'm anosmic.

Dear RC: I'm surprised to hear you're an Oz Mick.

Geez Bill, you should know by now that Rhuby is anything if the money's right!

- Pfranz

To truly have no sense of taste you would have to be both anosmic and aguesic as taste is only sweet, salt, bitter and sour. All other "flavours" are actually scents.
Incidentally that is why fancy wine testers "chew" the wine. When you drink the soft palate automatically closes off the passage to your nose. When you chew it relaxes and allows the fumes to carry the "flavour" to to the nose.

Wow, Zed, I didn't know people chewed wine! [impressed e] Welcome back to the land of connectivity, by the way.

Dr. Bill,

I was able to tell my friend yesterday the new word I learned for her condition. She likes it. It will probably confuse people when she says "I'm anosmic" - I figure they'll either hear "anemic" or "asthmatic" - but at least she now has an official medical word for it.

It is a very primitive concept that if you can name something,
you can control it.

Oh no, she's not hoping to control it. (Too late for that.) She's just sick of explaining it to people. Having a medical word on hand often gets rid of that step - people are afraid to ask what it means!

Dear Bean: what I meant was that something you can name is not as frightening as something you can't name. Remember, when Rapunzel learned Rumpelstiltskin's name he lost his power over her. (We used to have a member who called herself Rapunzel. Too bad she hasn't posted for such a long time.)

Bill, I suspect she's out letting her hair down somewhere.

- Pfranz

Let us hope a suitable Prince climbs up the golden rope.

when Rapunzel learned Rumpelstiltskin's name

Don't tell me; let me guess. When she was reading the story about the miller's daughter? the one with the mendacious father who claimed she could spin straw into gold in hopes of snaring a good match for her?

For pete's sake, Faldo, let's not bring anything resembling fact about fiction into this! It's grimm enough as it is ...

- Pfranz

Dear Faldage: You got me fair and square, hybridizing fairy tales. Two for the price of one. However I will not in high dudgeon stamp one foot deep into the earth, and then tear myself in two.

Many of our patients with head and neck cancer are treated with radiation that destroys or at least severely impairs the salivary glands. Additionally, many are also treated with chemotherapy which affects their taste buds. Food is often bland or worse yet, foul-tasting to these individuals, and we use the term "Dysgeusia" to describe it. I'd be interested to know if the word "disgusting" is related to it.

On a similar note, I just returned from a brief trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and can say with conviction that "Gatlinburgian" should make an excellent synonym for "tasteless."

Dear Alex: interesting question about dysgeusia vs disgusting.
One is from Greek, the other from Latin. I guess it might take a real language scholar to discuss it adequately.

and should I chew when I sniff the cork?

Hi Jackie!