"Köttet smakar som trä."

Translation: The meat tastes like wood.

[espekia]

Is this more abstract like saying the meat has a woody flavour like it has been oak smoked, or literally just saying the meat tastes like you're chewing on a piece of timber?

[devalanteriel]

I suppose it could be either, but the latter would be way more likely.

[espekia]

Okay thanks. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether a sentence seems strange because I'm interpreting it too literally, or just because the course authors sometimes pick surreal or bizarre sentences anyway.

[jaiirapetjan]

Bravo. And thanks for asking the question, it is exactly what came to my mind too.

[devalanteriel]

Yeah, I know what you mean. :)

[FLchick]

Hickory or mesquite???

[danielmccord]

Hopefully fläskkött and hickory

[AnCatDubh]

So many dirty puns here I don’t know where to start.

[PennLesley]

I translated it as 'This meat tastes OF wood', if this is not correct, how would you say this in Swedish?

[cathmach]

I would translate "This meat taste of wood" as "Köttet smakar trä" and "This meat tastes like wood" as "Köttet smakar som trä".

For me it is hard to pinpoint the difference between the two in English, but it might be that "tastes of" is more "has the flavour of" and "tastes like" is "has a similar flavour to". So for example, I might say "I think fennel tastes like liquorice" (one flavour reminds me of the other) but "This butter tastes of onion" (perhaps because if has been sitting next to some onion in the fridge). I wondering if the difference is similar in Swedish?

[Sninguistics]

Ehhh to taste of makes me feel like thee taste is intentional/appreciated, whereas to taste like feels more observational and in line with the intention of saying 'this meat sucks'.

[PotatoSanta]

According to google translate you can use 'av' as well, so if 'som' and 'av' are both used it could be that.

[Yeblick]

What a useful sentence! Excited to use this in the real world!! xD

[Helmut83]

Well, termites might.

[Baba7249]

So what exactly is implied by this? The meat is dry? (sort of like saying in English it's like shoe sole)?

[Ungewitig_Wiht]

I like the subtle disgust I can hear in the TTS voice even if completely unintentional

[CalliVonMampf]

I tried to translate the english sentence with "köttet smakar lika trä". It was obviously wrong. Whats the difference between lika and som?

[m.aster]

So I tried to 'research' this by googling the phrase "smakar lika", and my conclusion is that all of the results use or imply "som".

Most of the phrases are: Smakar lika gott/bra/illa (Tastes as good/bad)

And this construction is usually used along the lines of "Smakar lika gott som..." (Tastes as good as...)

Another example: Billiga glasögon lika bra som dyra. (Cheap eyeglasses [are] as good as expensive ones.) - this is a headline, so i guess är is omitted just like it would be in English.

One sentence that didn't have "gott/bra/illa": Undrar om det finns billigare korvar som smakar lika som Willys? (Are you wondering if there are cheaper sausages that taste like Willys?)

Another: Vi kommer att jobba ganska lika som vi har gjort. (We are going to work pretty much as we have been.)

One sentence that didn't have "som": Smakar pastan lika gott efter sex veckor? (Does pasta taste as good after six weeks?) But it compares old pasta to itself when fresh, so I think the "som" is implied.

Another: Allt smakar lika. (Everything tastes alike [the same as one another].) Again I think the "som" is implied.

There's also the idiom "lika som bär". (As similar as berries) It means being extremely alike.

[Baba7249]

If it's Swedish sausage, that's probably because it quite literally contains wood..

[devalanteriel]

Uhm... what?

[StevenV13]

Maybe Baba7249 was addicted to The Muppet Show and therefor doesn't trust swedish cooks.

[GenevieveLaurin]

So... Is this a good thing or not? I have learned to never assume anything about the Swedes' culinary preferences...

[devalanteriel]

Uhm, definitely not a good thing. :)