{"id":97949,"date":"2016-05-10T16:03:17","date_gmt":"2016-05-10T20:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=97949"},"modified":"2016-05-10T16:14:34","modified_gmt":"2016-05-10T20:14:34","slug":"in-defense-of-moist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/in-defense-of-moist\/","title":{"rendered":"In Defense of <i>Moist<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_97953\" style=\"width: 607px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/moistcake.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-97953\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-97953\" class=\"wp-image-97953 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/moistcake.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"597\" height=\"611\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/moistcake.jpg 597w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/moistcake-293x300.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-97953\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yum.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Many people hate the word <em>moist<\/em>. Indeed, it has become almost expected to hate the word <em>moist<\/em>, with its connotations of limp handshakes, cloying Uriah Heep types, and creeping damp. A recent study found that the aversion was real, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/05\/07\/science\/moist-word-aversion.html?_r=0\">reported<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0<em>New York Times<\/em>:\u00a0\u201cData from the current studies point to semantic features of the word\u2014namely, associations with disgusting bodily functions\u2014as a more prominent source of peoples\u2019 unpleasant experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But here\u2019s the thing: I like <em>moist<\/em>. And not just because of good associations with the groundbreaking Moistworks blog, either. I think <em>moist <\/em>just needs better PR.\u00a0<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>I like it because I like to bake, and because there is no substitute in English for the appetizing textural quality it evokes. It\u2019s probably the word I search most often in Google. Dense, fudgy brownies; a cake whose crumbs adhere lusciously to the tines of one\u2019s fork; succulent roasts. (<em>Damp<\/em>\u2014which, apparently, people also find repulsive\u2014is a Briticism that is, to this baker, equally appealing. Perhaps because of the climate, UK recipe books are full of \u201cDrenched Lemon Cakes\u201d and \u201cDamp Gingerbreads\u201d and \u201cSticky Toffee Puddings\u201d\u2014delicious, no?) If you want a world of chalky brownies and dry meatloaf, I suppose that\u2019s your prerogative.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To me, <em>moist<\/em> seems \u2026 fecund, yes. But that\u2019s not off-putting. Think of rich, loamy soil or shaded areas full of moss and ferns. It\u2019s the most exact word for these things; whatever bodily function these fastidious people find so \u201cdisgusting\u201d could doubtless be described in any number of ways. Besides, what are we so afraid of? I don\u2019t want to sound like one of those repulsive cartoon bears obsessed with toilet paper, but a little earthiness wouldn\u2019t hurt most of us.<\/p>\n<p><em>Clammy<\/em>, however, I won\u2019t fight you on.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>Sadie Stein is contributing editor of <\/em>The Paris Review<em>, and the <\/em>Daily<em>\u2019s correspondent.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many people hate the word moist. Indeed, it has become almost expected to hate the word moist, with its connotations of limp handshakes, cloying Uriah Heep types, and creeping damp. A recent study found that the aversion was real, reported\u00a0the\u00a0New York Times:\u00a0\u201cData from the current studies point to semantic features of the word\u2014namely, associations with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[1423,17108,17440,22284,687,22281,22282,22283,2393],"class_list":["post-97949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-cake","tag-climate","tag-desserts","tag-jungle","tag-language","tag-moist","tag-revulsion","tag-soil","tag-words"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>In Defense of \u201cMoist\u201d<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Everyone\u2019s least favorite word just needs some better PR, Sadie Stein writes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/in-defense-of-moist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In Defense of Moist by Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"May 10, 2016 \u2013 Many people hate the word moist. Indeed, it has become almost expected to hate the word moist, with its connotations of limp handshakes, cloying Uriah\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/in-defense-of-moist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-10T20:03:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-05-10T20:14:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/moistcake.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"597\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"611\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sadie Stein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/in-defense-of-moist\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/in-defense-of-moist\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sadie Stein\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9\"},\"headline\":\"In Defense of Moist\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-10T20:03:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-05-10T20:14:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/in-defense-of-moist\/\"},\"wordCount\":327,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/in-defense-of-moist\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/moistcake.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"cake\",\"climate\",\"desserts\",\"jungle\",\"language\",\"moist\",\"revulsion\",\"soil\",\"words\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Our Daily Correspondent\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/in-defense-of-moist\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/in-defense-of-moist\/\",\"name\":\"In Defense of \u201cMoist\u201d\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/in-defense-of-moist\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/in-defense-of-moist\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/moistcake.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-10T20:03:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-05-10T20:14:34+00:00\",\"description\":\"Everyone\u2019s least favorite word just needs some better PR, Sadie Stein writes.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/in-defense-of-moist\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/in-defense-of-moist\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/in-defense-of-moist\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/moistcake.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/moistcake.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/in-defense-of-moist\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"In Defense of Moist\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. 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