As an adjective: sour. As a noun, could be sweet :-)

related discussion: sauer angemacht
I agree, though, that it is usually for fruit or food which is also sweet, and I wouldn't say a vinaigrette was tart.

I associate "tart" with "pleasantly sour" or "acidic".
- lemons are tart
- unripe apples are tart
- anything acidic enough to make the inside of your mouth contract would be tart

and if there was any residual sweetness, it would be overpowered by the acidic taste.


New Shorter Oxford says:
sharp, sour or acid in taste, formerly also biting, pungent.
tartish: slightly sour or acidic


A synonym for the dressing discussion could be tangy.

I see tart as having the connotation that something that should be sweet isn't.

(on eating a piece of tangerine): "oh, that's tart!"

To me, it means that the acidity (that you were expecting, at least to some degree) outweighs the sweetness you were expecting.


Or maybe I just think about tangerines too much...

Das ist aber wirklich verwirrend mit den vielen Bedeutungen...

Dictionary: tart

Törtchen
Flittchen
und
scharf ?

In welcher Bedeutung ist dann hier scharf...?
(Du scharfes Törtchen! Du scharfes Flittchen!)
*hust*

Jay, siehst Du neben dem Wortpaar tart - scharf den kursiven Hinweis "remark", also eine scharfe (harsche) Replik?

Außerdem solltest Du zwischen Adjektiven und Substantiven unterscheiden ;-)

Schau auch mal hier: http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=tart

Danke penguin,
da sah ich den Wald vor lauter Bäumen nicht!

"scharf" hat dann ja auch mind. drei verschiedene Bedeutungen!! ;-)

hm, das soll es ja geben, daß ein Wort je nach Zusammenhang mehrere Bedeutungen haben kann - deshalb ja auch die in diesem Forum nicht gerade selten geäußerte Bitte, etwas mehr Kontext zu liefern

Any more responses? Not all that gratifying thus far here folks. Help a girl out, or not, as the case may be.

Bisher habe ich auch immer angenommen, dass nur süße Sachen tart sein können. Etwas überwiegend Saures wie Vinaigrette, Zitronensaft oder grüne Äpfel würde ich eher nicht als tart bezeichnen, sondern etwas eigentlich sehr zuckriges, dessen Süße von der Säure komplementiert wird. Etwa wie der Unterschied von sauer(reine Säure) und säuerlich (fruchtig-süß-sauer).

As an adjective, the word "tart" means pleasantly sharp or
sour-tasting, like goosberries or redcurrants, and not sweet.
The fruit in summer pudding, for e.g., shouldn't be sugared until sweet, it should retain some sharpness or tartness.

The confusion probably arises due to the noun "tart" also meaning a sweet dessert with a pastry base which is often filled with fruit.

For me a tart is a sweet pie with a fruit filling or custard. It may taste tart, sourish but it must not.

I did not phrase the question well apparently. I am interested in hearing how people understand the adj. tart. As in a tart apple, the tart taste of vinegar, it leaves a tart taste on the tongue. Here the noun form would be tartness rather than a tart.

@Selkie: I am on your side! As an adjective tart is sourish or tangy for me.

Sorry for bringing up soemthing else in this context. But maybe someone call tell me the truth: I saw that movie "Bridget Jones" and she was going to a Tarts and Vicars party. Does something like that really exist in England? Sounds weird ;-)))

@Curious gal: Yes, it does exist in England or at least it used to. In fact, I only opened this thread because I thought Selkie and the kat were organising a Vicars and Tarts party and needed some costume suggestions...;-).

@Selkie: I'm still thinking.

I also think tart is sour or sharp, and is used mainly for things that are thought to be sweet but turn out not to be - fruit, desserts etc.

My favourite would be a tart lemon tart...

I missed the original discussion, but I think I would agree more with kat here: for me, "tart" is a pleasant taste. We had a tart lemon pie at Thanksgiving. But a lemon by itself is not tart; it is just sour. Lemon juice is sour; lemonade is tart.