The soup is sharp?

nick   Sun Jun 14, 2009 4:24 am GMT
I watched the movie, Kung fu panda. Po says "the soup is sharp." What does "sharp" mean here? Hot?
H   Sun Jun 14, 2009 5:49 am GMT
Maybe "spicy". It must have been a bad translation.
obvious   Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:18 am GMT
Well, Po made the comment, "Careful, that soup is -- sharp!" after he realized he left his shooting star in a customer's bowl of noodle soup. So you can infer from that just what exactly he meant.
Lazar   Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:34 am GMT
From what Obvious says, it seems to be an in-context joke. A soup wouldn't normally be described as sharp.
nick   Sun Jun 14, 2009 3:53 pm GMT
Thank you everyone, especially "obvious". I saw the shooting star when I watched it carefully.
obvious   Sun Jun 14, 2009 5:46 pm GMT
oops. i meant "throwing star".
Guest   Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:26 pm GMT
You mean shuriken.
Uriel   Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:25 pm GMT
And it WAS a play on words in that certain foods can be described as being "sharp" in flavor -- usually it's cheese, though, rather than soup. Strong, tangy flavored cheeses are often described as being sharp, as in sharp Cheddar, which also comes in mild and medium varieties.
Paul   Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:28 pm GMT
Sharp is here a Germanism - "eine scharfe Suppe" is a spicy soup. Perhaps Po is German?
Leasnam   Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:48 pm GMT
<<A soup wouldn't normally be described as sharp. >>

Only if it contained a lot of pepper (black or white). Then it would be considered "sharp".
Phil - English Teacher   Fri Jun 19, 2009 9:50 am GMT
Sharp used to describe food or drink, normally describes it to be sour or tangy.

If something is sour, depending on culture, a typical inference is that the item is not so positive. By finding an alternative word, a listener or reader may not be able to infer positivity or negativity. That is often how I see the words 'sharp' and 'tangy' to be used.