Tapenade

A national supermarket sold a paste of red peppers. As the word Tapenade which they used for their product, was not well known, they had to use persuasive language to help the customer.

Finest SWEET RED PEPPER TAPENADE

A sumptuous tapenade of sweet red peppers, tantalisingly blended with an exotic array of ingredients including apple juice and extra virgin olive oil, subtly seasoned for added texture and depth. Ideal with a platter of goat's cheese, cold meats and crusty bread and crackers, in a French farmhouse in the early evening twilight.

Count the number of adjectives and see how many there are to each noun. You'll see that the noun phrase is frequent, lengthy and highly descriptive.

Note how many of the words describe taste and how many may be described as loosely "romantic".

Do you think it makes sense to say something is "tantalisingly blended"? Blended to make the flavour tantalising, perhaps. If the word "tantalisingly" does not really refer to "blended" we may describe it as a "transferred epithet".

Do you think that the final two prepositional phrases are excessive for a description of a new product?

By the way a "tapenade" is described as "a paste, originally from Provence in France, made from puréed black olives, capers and anchovies. The word is from the French Provencal "tapeno" meaning "caper." Is the word "tapenade" helpful? Appropriate? More exotic than "paste"?

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