has expensive taste vs. has an expensive taste

[Torsten]

Hi,

What is the difference between 'she has expensive taste' and 'she has an expensive taste'?

Thanks a lot,
Torsten
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[Jamie (K)]

"She has an expensive taste" sounds like foreigner English to me. However, "she has expensive taste" would mean that she generally wants expensive things, and adding the indefinite article might indicate that her taste for one particular type of item is expensive. Maybe she doesn't mind cheap furniture, but her jewelry has to be top-of-the-line or something like that.

If someone has expensive taste in one aspect of their lives, though, we're more likely to say, "She has expensive taste in ..." My friends say I have expensive taste in beer. I don't drink much, but when I do, I only drink the best, most expensive brews. My friends won't say I have expensive taste in general, because I buy ordinary clothes and get a lot of things I use at a discount.