Tarten

These faults in a scholar tend to tarten the writing, to enliven the reader.

I loved their shouts of welcome as I trudged across the fields carrying the heavy jug. Mama mixed the old time drink from cold well water, a pinch of ginger, molasses and some vinegar to tarten it.

He knew precisely when to spice the orchestration with percussive pepper, when to add a pinch more of sugar, when to tarten the mixture with a squeeze or two of lime.

[…] her sweetness tartened as one side of her clutched loyalty, the other love.