Does your tube stop taste of apple pie, HP sauce or putrid meat? For James Wannerton these are just some of the strange tastes he experiences as he travels on the London Underground.
A journey on the Central Line for the 54-year-old will start off tasting of burnt bacon, and gradually change to taste of cheese, sausage, sprouts and cabbage water. And the tastes are very real. ‘They are all involuntary and cannot be "turned off" or "toned down",’ Mr Wannerton said.
That’s because Mr Wannerton, from Dollis Hill in North London, is one of an estimated two-and-a-half million people who suffer from gustatory auditory synaesthesia. This a cross-sensory neurological condition which means he can literally taste words.
The bad news for people in Mile End is their area tastes of fingernails. London Bridge tastes of lumpy mashed potato, West Hampstead of spam and chocolate and Covent Garden of digestives. ‘As a young child I used to travel to school on the London Underground and because of my synaesthesia, on each trip I experienced a taste and texture sensation of each station name,’ said Mr Wannerton. ‘I used to recognise where I was along the journey by taste just as much as by the actual location. ‘I did this every time I travelled on the Underground and it very soon became an involuntary and very automatic additional response to my general perception.’
While he can get tastes and textures from simply reading a station name, the ‘ambiance’ and appearance can also alter that experience. ‘The tastes are 100 per cent consistent in that they never change,’ said Mr Wannerton.
倫敦地鐵圖給人們帶來不少靈感，從音樂標識到人氣餐廳很多都借鑒了地鐵圖的交叉線。但你曾嚐過或想像過地鐵站的味道嗎？是香甜無比的蘋果派？還是瀰漫著腐肉的酸臭味？英國一名年屆五旬的James Wannerton搭乘倫敦地鐵時，無需舔嚐便可知道月臺的滋味。每次地鐵呼嘯而過時，他便會不由自主地享受起這頓『地鐵盛宴』。月臺的名字一響起，他的腦中隨即浮現出多汁的烤培根、香濃的起士、香腸等食物的形象。這就是「聯覺synesthesia」，憑著這種神奇的能力， Wannerton勾勒出他嚐到的每個地鐵站的味道。
「聯覺」亦即通感，把通常獨立感受的器官串聯在了一起。就Wannerton的例子來說，便是將聲音轉換成味覺。當聽到不同字眼時，他的腦袋會不由自主地作出反應，就像舌尖嘗到某種味道一樣，而味道何如，則端看Wannerton幸運與否了。小時候乘地鐵上學時，Wannerton經常將這短途旅程當作美食盛宴，僅靠清楚地記得各個月臺的味道，不用地圖更無需導航。
- Putrid (adj.) 腐爛的、腐臭的；難聞的
- Sprout (n.) 球型甘藍
- Involuntary (adj.) 非自願的；不受意志控制的
Sneezing is involuntary.
打噴嚏是不由自主的。
- Tone down 柔和；淡化；減輕
She was trying to tone down the colors of the picture.
她正設法使畫面的色調柔和一些。
- Gustatory (adj.) 味覺的；嚐味的
- Auditory (adj.) 聽覺的；聽到的
- Neurological (adj.) 神經學的
- Lumpy (adj.) 塊狀的
- Spam (n.) 垃圾郵件
- Ambiance (n.) 氣氛；格調；氛圍
After 49 years of collecting and noting down the tastes and textures, he wanted to create a map to raise awareness of his condition. Remarkably, Mr Wannerton didn’t know he had synaesthesia until he was 21.
It was only until a visit to the U.S. in 1981 - when he saw a woman on TV explaining that she saw colours when she listened to music - that he realised he might not be the only one who tastes words. On his return home, he made a visit to London's Maudsley Hospital and underwent a series of MRI scans to look at the part of the brain linked to taste.
‘I was diagnosed with gustatory auditory synaesthesia. At last I had proof that I had a neurological disorder, and it was a huge relief to find out,' he said. ‘I finally felt validated and not mad. Before that point, I'd been frightened of telling people about it for fear of them thinking I was a raving lunatic.’
Mr Wannerton says, to him, tasting words is as natural as breathing. But concentrating and particularly reading are difficult, as often the words' flavours overwhelmed their meanings.
Since Mr Wannerton’s diagnosis, he has submitted more than 3,000 words with flavours to researchers at University College London and Edinburgh University. ‘Every now and again they ring up without notice and I have to instantly articulate the taste of whatever word they give me,’ he said. ‘My answers are instant and they never change, so it's obviously not just a memory thing.’
Synaesthesia is essentially a genetic fault - Mr Wannerton’s mother and sister are also affected, but not as strongly. It is caused when neurological pathways between the senses are not pruned during brain development, resulting in an overlap of the senses. Some people can 'hear' textures, others can 'see' smell.
‘It forms a big part of my pleasurable memories, so if I didn't have that, my memories would feel very flat.'
在Wannerton 21歲前，他並不知道他擁有這項特別的能力。直到1981年他到美國旅遊時，在電視上看到一個女人解釋，當她聽音樂時，可以馬上聯想出對應的顏色。他才意識到他可能不是唯一一個可以品嚐文字的人。
自16歲起，Wannerton便開始收集編錄每個地鐵站的味道。倫敦一共有350多個地鐵站，Wannerton花費將近38年才完成味道地鐵圖的創作。究竟為何需要這麼長的時間呢？
Wannerton回憶道，「有段時間，我必須親自到每個車站，看看比起對著地圖念月臺名字，地鐵站的周遭環境是否會改變我感受到的味道和觸覺。不幸的是，我嚐到的味道確實稍有不同。這意味著我必須踏遍每個地鐵站，才能更準確地描述出味道地鐵圖。」
Wannerton 表示有幾個地鐵站很美味，如Baker Street的味道和觸覺宛如果醬布丁般香滑，Paddington嚐起來就像粉色棉花糖。而Wannerton最喜歡的車站是Tottenham Court Road，據他形容，這個地鐵站的味道就像是經典的英式早餐－美味的香腸配上荷包蛋！某些線路的味道搭配得完美無瑕，有些則奇怪得難以描述，比如，鹹香的培根之後，緊接著卻是甜滋滋的煉乳。
除此之外，有些車站的味道只能用＂令人作嘔＂來形容。Wannerton第一個浮現在腦海的就是Bond Street，有種鼻涕混著髮膠的恐怖味道，另外是充滿三合一潤滑油味的Canons Park。
特別的是，Wannerton並沒有吃潤滑油或髮膠的習慣，那他如何能準確地說出這些味道呢？雖然Wannerton說品嚐的過程＂毫不費力，無需思考＂，但有些時候，要將嚐到的味道描述出來，倒是費了好一番功夫。此外，某些地鐵站的味道極其微弱，這也嚴重加大了描述難度。
Wannerton說，對他而言，品嚐文字就像呼吸一樣自然。但要在閱讀時集中精神也是這項能力困擾的地方，通常味道會壓倒文字所帶給我的感受。
Wannerton的倫敦地鐵圖並非只是無聊之作。有了這些「味道地圖」，研究人員可以研究聯覺與語言學習之間的關聯。Wannerton的味覺之旅並未終止於倫敦，他已經開始創作多倫多和美國地鐵的味道圖了～
- Note down 記錄某事；將某事記下
The policeman noted down every word she said.
警察把她說的每句話都記了下來。
- Undergo (v.) 接受(治療、檢查)
All the freshmen will undergo a physical examination.
所有新生都將接受體格檢查。
- Raving (adj.) 胡說的；瘋狂的
- Lunatic (n.) 瘋子
Who was the lunatic who gave the baby matches to play with?
是哪個白痴把火柴拿給嬰兒玩？
- Articulate (v.) 明確有力地表達
Articulate your words so that we can understand what you are saying.
說話要清楚，這樣我們才能聽明白你的話。
- Prune (v.) 修剪；刪除
He is pruning his roses.
他在修剪他的玫瑰花。
- Overlap (n.) 重疊處
There is a small overlap between the two circles.
在這兩個圓周有一小部分重疊。
THE MOST BIZARRE TASTES OF THE LONDON UNDERGROUND
Bond Street – Hairspray 髮膠
High Street Kensington – Midget gems 小型寶石
Clapham South – Crisp sandwich 脆脆三明治
Elephant & Castle – Wet sand 濕濕的沙子
Wanstead – Stamp glue 郵票膠水
Stratford High Street – Rubber diving brick 橡膠潛水磚
Mile End – Fingernails 指甲
Royal Oak – Bic biro ink 圓珠筆墨水
Farringdon – Warm semolina 熱熱的粗粒小麥粉
Pinner – Dried Blood 乾掉的血漬
West Hampstead – Spam and chocolate 垃圾郵件與巧克力
Canons Park – 3 in 1 oil 三合一潤滑油
Hackney Wick – Sealing wax 密封蠟
West Silverton – Blood and chocolate 血與巧克力
Brent Cross – Corgi car tyres 小汽車模型的輪胎
Kilburn High Road - Putrid meat 腐爛的肉
Latimer Road – Candy shrimps 糖果味道的蝦子
West India Quay - Wet Wool 濕濕的羊毛
Osterley - Sugar sandwich 甜甜三明治
TASTE OF POPULAR TUBES STOPS
Victoria – Candle wax 蠟燭蠟
Waterloo – Fizzy water 氣泡水
Leicester Square – Curly Wurly 巧克力棒
Covent Garden – Chocolate digestives 巧克力消化餅
Tottenham Court Road – Sausage and egg 香腸和蛋
Oxford Circus – Oxtail soup 牛尾湯
South Kensington – Soft wine gums 軟性酒精泡泡糖
Clapham Common – Lemon sponge cake 檸檬海綿蛋糕
Brixton – Vanilla ice cream 香草冰淇淋
Warren Street – Raw carrot 生胡蘿蔔
King’s Cross St. Pancras – Fruit cake and dripping 水果蛋糕
High Barnet – Brandy snaps 白蘭地
Camden Town – Dolly mixtures 水果軟糖
London Bridge – Lumpy mash potato 馬鈴薯泥
Bank – Minstrels 街頭藝人
Baker Street - Burn Jam Roly Poly 烤的捲布丁
Paddington – Flumps 棉花糖
Finchley Road – Fresh Peach 新鮮的桃子
Regent’s Park – Malt Vinegar 麥芽醋
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2511814/What-does-YOUR-train-station-taste-like-Man-tastes-words-comes-flavour-274-London-Underground-stations-jelly-Spam-fritters-wet-sand.html#ixzz2r1fbu1pG
