Sweet tooth is an idiom that has been in use since the 1300s. An idiom is a figure of speech that is a word, group of words or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is not easily deduced from its literal definition. We will examine the definition of the expression sweet tooth, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.
Someone is said to have a sweet tooth if he has a craving or strong fondness for sweet foods. The term sweet tooth was coined in the 1300s, using the word tooth to describe tasty or delicious food. Today the word toothsome is an adjective used to describe tasty or delicious food. Note that sweet tooth consists of two, separate words without a hyphen. The Oxford English Dictionary lists the plural form of sweet tooth as sweet tooths.
Examples
Rather than resorting to out-of-season, trucked- and flown-in fruits to satisfy my sweet tooth, I decided to explore some different ways to use a couple of special, locally produced ingredients: salt from J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works in Malden and the beautifully light, finely milled buckwheat flour from Preston County, home of the annual buckwheat festival for 76 years. (The Charleston Gazette-Mail)
Shares in Tango maker Britvic fizzed after City analysts predicted that the FTSE 250 company was well-equipped to ride out the Government’s war on Britain’s sweet tooth. (The Telegraph)
Sydney paediatric dietitian Hanan Saleh suggested breast milk sets up a taste preference from birth – meaning babies would develop a sweet tooth. (The Daily Mail)
If you’ve been writing your sugar cravings off as having a “sweet tooth” or referred to having a “sugar addiction” in jest, your relationship with sweets might actually be more complicated than you think. (USA Today)