September 23, 2025

The definition of the word sweet is "pleasing in general; delightful." A sweet and pleasant meal. A sweet and pleasant day. A sweet and pleasant person. A sweet and pleasant life. People like sweetness. Therefore, we should just keep making things sweeter and sweeter, and people will therefore enjoy it more and more. Right? Saccharine is an artificial sweetener that is 500 times sweeter than sugar. Its used all over-- in soft drinks, baked goods, jams, and candies. But saccharine has an aftertaste, slightly metallic, slightly bitter. Its a bit ironic. So sweet it leaves your mouth feeling the exact opposite. As if world refuses to accept the inauthenticity of the product, saying "Nope! Sweet things will only be truly received as sweet if they are just that. No exceptions!" After learning a bit more about the sweetener, I discovered its also recognized as adjective; "excessively sweet or sentimental." To my understanding, for this to coincide with the artificial sweetener from which the adj. stems from, a saccharine person must possess similar characteristics of being a bit over the top, and inorganically sweet. So sure, this makes sense for the "excessively sweet" component of the definition, but I have to disagree on the sentimental aspect. To be overly sentimental in a false way already has a word. Mawkish. An adjective. "Sentimental in an exaggerated or false way." To be 'overly sentimental' in a way that is still authentic to ones self does not deserve to be lumped in with an artificial sweetener. Perhaps an overly sentimental person is just good at romanticizing their life. Or has a strong appreciation for their experiences. Maybe these are just the people with a large quantity of sugar-- in their tea, in their pantry, in their life--- and there's nothing artificial about it.