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sour milk

sour milk

4 1.8
Milk that has gone bad and smells and tastes unpleasant
  • noun
  • /ˈsaʊər mɪlk/
translation icon : leche agria
  • If you notice any off taste in the sour milk, it is best to discard it to avoid any health issues.
  • smell of sour milk
  • buttermilk or sour milk
  • bottle of sour milk

We don't like going into the refrigerator and drinking sour milk.

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Examples

  • I rinsed out the sour milk container in a pail of water and poured that into their water trough.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The recipe calls for one cup of sour milk to create a tangy flavor in the batter.

  • After school, I ate some sour milk with old pieces of dried bread.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Was it sour milk, bacon fat, egg yolks, or caramelized sugar?

  • She tastes something bitter, as though she'd swallowed sour milk.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Rosie put her shoulder to the heavy old porch door and pushed it in before her, and the familiar smell of sour milk bottles and damp coats came out to meet them.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • After a few days, the sour milk in the fridge began to smell stronger and developed a thicker texture.

How Sour

sour milk
4 1.8
buttermilk
25 2.5
milk
1.0

Surface Forms

sour milk singular
sour milks plural

Morphology

sour + milk

The phrase is a straightforward adjective + noun combination: 'sour' (fermented/spoiled) modifies 'milk', so the meaning 'milk that has become sour' is directly derivable from the parts. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows normal English modifier semantics, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand it.

Etymology

The noun sour milk comes from the simple image of milk that has been left out and become sour, growing thick and tangy. So, the phrase means 'milk that has become sour', and cooks often use it in baking for its tangy taste.