De gustibus non est disputandum is a Latin maxim. It means “there is no disputing about tastes”^[1][2], and is essentially equivalent to the English expression "there's no accounting for taste"^[3]. The implication is that opinions about matters of taste are not objectively right or wrong, and hence that disagreements about matters of taste cannot be objectively resolved.

This phrase is famously misquoted in Act I of Anton Chekhov's play The Seagull. The character Shamrayev conflates it with the phrase de mortuis nil nisi bonum, resulting in "de gustibus aut bene, aut nihil", "Let nothing be said of taste but what is good".

[edit] See also

• List of Latin phrases

[edit] References