על טעם וריח אין להתווכח (al ta'am ve-rei'ach ein lehitvake'ach) — there is no arguing about taste and smell

Etymology

The phrase is the Hebrew equivalent of the Latin proverb de gustibus non est disputandum ("about taste there is no disputing"), but with the distinctive addition of smell (ריח) alongside taste (טעם). The poet, playwright, translator, and editor Abraham Shlonsky coined the phrase and published it in the literary journal Ktuvim, which he edited, sometime in the late 1920s.

Shlonsky was among the greatest coiners of new Hebrew words in the twentieth century, yet he himself professed little interest in tracking his own linguistic contributions. In a January 1960 interview with journalist Raphael Bashan in Ma'ariv, he dismissed the question of word paternity entirely: "Why must everyone know the parentage of a word? What does it matter who coined lechem [bread]? Basar [meat]! Terach! Michna'sayim [trousers]!" Yet it was in that very same interview that he recounted, with evident pride, the story of this phrase.

Walking along a commercial street in Tel Aviv, Shlonsky overheard two Yemeni women in their thirties debating some matter. One suddenly turned to the other and said: "What is there to argue? Al ta'am ve-rei'ach ein lehitvake'ach!" Shlonsky was astonished — he had published that very phrase in Ktuvim only a few months earlier. "How had it already descended to the street? Already rolling off the lips of the people?" he marveled, calling it the most exciting linguistic achievement of his life.

The phrase's rapid adoption into popular speech exemplifies the dynamics of successful neologism: a memorable formulation, published in a widely read venue, picked up and transmitted organically without any deliberate campaign. Unlike many of Shlonsky's other coinages — some of which remained hapax legomena used only in his own writing — this phrase became a genuine proverb, outlasting the journal that first carried it.

Key Quotes

"אדוני! חידוש לשוני זה פרסמתי ב'כתובים' כמה חדשים לפני כן! איך הספיק כבר לרדת לרחוב? להתגלגל בין שפתי העם? הייתי ברקיע השביעי." — אברהם שלונסקי, ראיון ל"מעריב", ינואר 1960

Timeline

• Late 1920s: Shlonsky publishes the phrase in the literary journal Ktuvim
• ~1960: Shlonsky overhears the phrase used spontaneously by passersby in Tel Aviv
• January 1960: Shlonsky recounts the story in an interview with Ma'ariv
• 1989: The phrase noted in Milon Chidushei Shlonsky, the dictionary of Shlonsky's coinages compiled by Yaakov Kna'ani (published 11 years after Kna'ani's death)

Related Words

• טעם — taste; also used in Hebrew in the sense of "reason" or "musical cantillation mark"
• ריח — smell, scent
• התווכח — to argue, dispute
• כתובים — the literary journal Shlonsky edited, vehicle for many of his coinages