The word "savour"

[batraxenia]

I am interested to know if the word "savour" is familiar for native English speakers (Americans, British, Australians).

So, e.g., if you read the sentence "I like to savour my food by attending to its taste, smell, and texture" would you be able to easily infer its meaning?

[rdearman]

No need to infer the meaning. It is a pretty common word and I suspect there are very few native English speakers who don't already know it. They would have encountered it in numerous commercials and advertisements. Anyone who hadn't encountered it in associate with food would be familiar with the phrase "savour the moment".

[dampingwire]

So, e.g., if you read the sentence "I like to savour my food by attending to its taste, smell, and texture" would you be able to easily infer its meaning?

No problem with savour, although I doubt that I'd ever use attending to in quite that way.

[tarvos]

If you attend to your food, you sound like you're taking your food a little too seriously. Unless that crab you're trying to eat is alive, and in that case... please keep it out of my vicinity, that stuff is horrible.

[luke]

Americans generally spell it savor. Perhaps that's a more familiar way for you to see it.

[Speakeasy]

No problem with savour, although I doubt that I'd ever use attending to in quite that way.

This usage is not incorrect, it is nothing more than a question of style; that is, a personal manner or choice of expressing oneself.

[tarvos]

It is a style thing, but even stylistic choices can be errors

[Speakeasy]

It is a style thing, but even stylistic choices can be errors

How cute! Please explain how the use of "attending to" in the example above is an error. In doing so, please provide links your references: dictionary and grammar of the English language.

[tarvos]

Attending to is very formal register. It is out of place in most contexts.

I said a STYLISTIC error, not a grammatical error. It's not the same thing.

[dampingwire]

No problem with savour, although I doubt that I'd ever use attending to in quite that way.

This usage is not incorrect, it is nothing more than a question of style; that is, a personal manner or choice of expressing oneself.

I didn't mean to imply that it was incorrect, merely a surprising choice. Given that the question related to the possibility that savour might be unknown to some native speakers (which, TBH I would find moderately surprising) I thought it could be helpful to comment on the usage that did cause me to raise an eyebrow.