I’ve gotta know: How do your pronounce “artisanal”? Is it even really a word? Is the accent on the second syllable, “arTISanal”, in which case it sounds like it came from the mouth of Benjamin Disraeli? Or is it on the third syllable, “artisANal”, in which case it describes, when hyphenated with retentive, a good number of people for whom this is an important characteristic of their food?
I don’t know why this word bugs me, but it does. It conjures images of proud craftsmen with beards, carving the perfect cheese with a chisel. Artisans make things at historic villages that sit on living room mantles in colonial houses. Dowdy, rough, built to withstand another cold New Hampshire winter. Is that what you want in a cheese? Can’t we think of another word? Micro-cheesery? Loca-cheese? Udder-iffic?
(And before you ask, No, I don’t know what’s going on in the picture on this card either, or why it’s included in a children’s card game.)
What bugs me even more, if it’s possible? Using the noun itself as a modifier, as in “artisan bread.” Because nothing spells Sunday morning better than color funnies and a big slab of toasted & buttered craftsperson, slathered with honey-marmalade.
A-holes.
Accent on the first syllable.