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Reader question: Please explain “acquired taste” in this passage: We are in the same position. English is an acquired taste, not my native language either. My comments: This appears to be a response by someone to a fellow English learner, neither being a native speaker. Acquired taste refers to this, the fact that the taste or ability to appreciate English is acquired or learned through effort and experience. In other words, English is not what they were born into. One’s instincts such as fight or flight in times of danger are innate, something we’re born with. However, the knowledge to tell if a neighborhood is dangerous or safe, tranquil or noisy and hence whether it will be an ideal place to live in retirement is an acquired knowledge, something learned after careful study plus real-life experience. English as an acquired taste also suggests that the speaker and his fellow learner like the language very much, more and more as a matter of fact, as time goes on. In the beginning, they may not even like English in any particular way, but as they get more familiar with it, its peculiar grammar notwithstanding, they begin to like it more and more. That’s the thing with an acquired taste, or acquiring and developing a taste. It takes effort and time. A taste for mild and sugar, for example, is not an acquired taste. Every baby likes them. Babies clutch a mild bottle like holding on to their dear life. No prodding, goading or coaxing necessary, in other words. | 
