I've heard this, but it doesn't bother me. I wonder what is driving the dislike? Some kind of unpleasant association?

I thought it was a peculiarity of my wife, it was years later that I realized it’s a ”thing.” I do get it, though off-hand I can’t put it to words. Flesh is another one.

What? Never hears of this! Stupid!

My niece teaches 6th grade, she said if you say the word wet the kids laugh and snicker. I'm sure she gets the same response to moist. lol

It doesn't bother me.

Here's the AI generated answer to the dislike: The word "moist" is a long-running pop-culture joke and internet meme because roughly 20% of people feel an intense, irrational dislike for it. People often cringe at the word due to its sound, its subconscious link to bodily secretions, and social conditioning.

It doesn't bother me at all but as a horticulturist, 'moist' (or moisture) is a word that is encountered constantly as it represents a critical aspect of plant care.

'Flesh' is a word I do find distasteful. Something about its sound and what it represents is just kinda creepy or off-putting to me.

A language-related fb group I used to follow, this came up from time to time. Some did find it icky, some didn’t mind, some wondered why the topic kept coming up. It is an interesting thing, though, that those three things are all true!

To me, the word moist makes me think of moistness. No problem here.

This reminds me of PM Trudeau using the word ”moistly” during covid. 🤠 Someone put the original newscast to music.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went viral in April 2020 after accidentally using the phrase "speaking moistly" during a live pandemic press briefing. While trying to explain how wearing a cloth face mask could prevent the transmission of COVID-19, he stated that masks protect others because they prevent you from "breathing or speaking moistly on them". He immediately realized how uncomfortable the phrasing sounded, shaking his head and muttering, "What a terrible image."

I found an article about an investigation conducted by a then active but now former Oberlin College Psych prof. It's from 2015, a time when internet babble and social media sites were nowhere near what they are today. I think maybe his research was academically serious but perhaps a bit whimsical. I didn't read the resulting paper. He uses the term "word aversion", suggesting that a discomfort with what some find the word may refer to is part of the dislike.

Dr Thibodeau research article

The book I cited was just released by a professor (admittedly for a general audience). I suspect the mention of disliked words was added with perhaps the same motivation as what was behind Thibodeau's work - exposure of academic inquiry along with some topical enlightenment and amusement for the general public.

I personally put little credence in generic responses from unfocused AI systems open to the general public.

I like this. And I like the sign language ladies. They look a bit perplexed. :)

Moistly does not bother me.

Moist, moistly, Moist Supreme Cake Mix. I’m okay with it. 🤷‍♀️

I guess I’m in the 80% who isn’t bothered by the word moist. Like gardengal I associate the word to plant soil & like roxsolid, to desserts.

I'm not bothered by the word moist. In fact, I long for some in my drought-ridden yard.

Interesting. I have never come across this and I cannot relate at all. It's kind of puzzling actually, but it obiously is a "thing".

I've heard that a lot of people don't like it, but I don't know why. Doesn't bother me.

Among my kitchen crew when often hands are busy but mouths have time to chat, hatred of the word moist did come up. I was more revulsed by the German dish, Fleischsalat. Yuck .

Not at all.

No.

Not me. But I once worked with a woman who had a few word aversions. I feel bad saying this, but it was kind-of funny. She was a hard as nails native New Yorker who once got into hand to hand combat with a mugger - and won. I was in awe of her confidence.

And yet if anyone said the words moist or snot, the color would drain from her face and she would need to leave the room. Wild to me. But it was her honest reaction and she couldn't even explain why.

Phlegm said with a horking noise sounds terrible. Even the spelling is yucky.

eta Maybe it just sounds like a horking noise to me when I hear it. It’s a perfect word, though.

I have no aversion to this word, neither do I understand the supposedly scary nature of clowns.

“Phlegm said with a horking noise sounds terrible. Even the spelling is yucky.”

Agree! It’s one of those words that sounds like what it is.

”…neither do I understand the supposedly scary nature of clowns.”

Same.

No issue with moist.

The clown thing is from that movie where the clown is looking out of the drain gutter. I do not know the name, I never watch those movies, but my grandson, when he was about 8, would not let me turn on the Raggedy Andy night light that I got when his father was born.

I never understood the aversion to certain words or things like clowns. I'm not very sensitive, I guess.

The clown thing isn't new. My cousin born in 1971 was terrified of clowns. I always found most of them creepy, even when Bozo lived around the corner (not in makeup and costume of course)

IDK…this is from Wiki.

”The modern archetype of the evil clown was popularized by the DC Comics supervillain Joker starting in 1940, and again in the 1980s by Pennywise from Stephen King's It. The character can be seen as playing on the sense of unease felt by sufferers of coulrophobia, the fear of clowns.”

I’ve only known one person who had a fear of clowns, and it was a grown man. Never understood it. There was a house close to us with an elderly female owner. She had her garage door painted with ”John Wayne Gacy Keep Out!” Weird.😵‍💫

ETA - Correction…DH says the garage door had ”John Wayne Gacy Lurks.” Still weird!

Some people will go to great lengths to find something to be offended by!

I’m bothered by the people who put the big Pennywise garage door cover up for Halloween. That would keep plenty of kids, and adults, from trick-or-treating at that house!

" The clown thing is from that movie where the clown is looking out of the drain gutter. "

Not exclusively. One of my nieces was born in the early 1970s (long before that movie) and (I think) developed a fear of clowns from either going to a carnival or a birthday party. She still finds clowns distressing.

(Along with having food on a plate that touches, and eating meat with bones)

"“Phlegm said with a horking noise sounds terrible. Even the spelling is yucky.”

Agree! It’s one of those words that sounds like what it is.""

Onomatopoeia!

I loved Stephen King's movie, It. Pennywise doesn't scare me at all. Great movie.

@Angela ID - we are talking about something very different from "being offended." This is much more about fear or intense internal distress - which the person so afflicted did not "go to great lengths" to find.

The person I knew who had this was in no way offended. She wished that the word did not cause such a reaction in her. It was some sort of deep-seated thing. 🤷‍♀️

Funny enough she was fine with blood. But moist... was not. 😄🤷‍♀️

I think, depending on age, that a lot of little kids are afraid of anyone in costume where the face is disguised. It's creepy and kids don't always know how to handle that. Look how many people have pictures of their kids crying on Santa's lap. None of this bothers me.

Elmer I have a niece who cannot have the food on her plate touch, and also eats all of one thing at a time from her plate.

" also eats all of one thing at a time from her plate. "

Yeah, my niece does that too. As does a daughter, who's okay with food touching but does eat items one at a time.

In high school, we called eating foods on your plate one at a time "Military style."

I love moist, and the moister the betterer. do you feel unpleasant or even repulsed right now? When I dig a hole to plant in I love to see a moist hole but wet holes do bother me a bit. moist cake is good, wet cake isn't along with cookies. Wet cake equals a sloppy mess. But what I can't stand is a dry hole, so for me dry or wet will make me regret. Like moist air, it's much more controllable over dry or wet air, so I can't see how the word moist would make anyone uncontrollable.

That's a really off the wall card. I say that as a compliment.

I was shopping for a birthday card last week and was very underwhelmed by the choices. I was in a largish Walgreens, one with a good supply of cards to choose from. Few were funny, not a one was particularly clever.

I had to buy a card and I didn't have or want to spend the time running from place to place to find something better. I can't say I was particularly satisfied with the ultimate choice.

I agree Elmer that it is a really off the wall card. Based on posts to this thread, most of us wouldn’t get its intended humor. I understand too being underwhelmed at card choices. This card was in a Safeway - I didn’t look at back to see the publisher. I was looking for a humorous bday card for a b-i-l. Jokes about being old annoy me so all those were out & not too much left. If one wants a card to match the person one’s giving it to then it requires a long search and also requires being in the mood to stand around & read cards. I find that chore is like visiting a perfume / scent counter. One can only sniff so many scents before one looses its scent receptors. I do like many of the ”Leaning Tree” brand of cards but those are in hardware type stores only.

KW, I usually just buy a blank card with an interesting picture/graphic on the front.

I like to write my own message. I’ll personalise it. 🤠

roxsolid - I also like to write a personal message to most of the people I would give / send a card to for any reason. I think a personal message really elevates the thought behind the card and I know I feel very cared for when someone takes the time to send me a card with a personal message no matter the reason for it. Sometimes though a store bought birthday card is exactly what the occasion calls for!

Yes! Thinking about it, you are quite right KW.

I also buy blank or a simple 'happy birthday'. I don't buy cute messages, jokes, cartoons, doggerel, gender or relationship specifice cards. I find the best ones in book shops, museums or, surprisingly, garden centres. I try to buy when I see them rather than when the occasion arrives.