He has an audacity that those who know him either adore or despise. His audacity is _____ .
There's only two kinds of people: those who love olives and those who hate it. Olives have a _____ flavor.
-
1Shibbolethic?– James Waldby - jwpat7Jan 3, 2013 at 18:08
-
1All-or-nothing? Binary? Bipolar?– MitchJan 3, 2013 at 18:52
Add a comment
|
3 Answers
I would say:
His audacity is polarising.
Olives are polarising when it comes to favour.
-
I can't go with this usage in OP's specific instance. There's not a single instance of olives are polarising in Google Books (nor with the American polarizing). There's not even one for the archetypal Marmite is polarising. Jan 3, 2013 at 18:34
Technically speaking, Dohn Joe's polarising "ought" to be the right word here - and you might just get away with it in OP's first example, but it seems a somewhat quirky usage to me.
But in practice people would probably use divisive in the first case, and some more roundabout expression for the second. If it weren't for the preceding sentence, I personally would go for...
Olives have a "love it or hate it" flavour. (often written as love-it-or-hate-it).
answered Jan 3, 2013 at 18:43
Marmitey. As referring to marmite of which has the slogan "you either love it or hate it. Its a colloquialism but it fits well.
