I realize that I have an instant association with the sound of words, particularly exotic words, independent of their meaning. For example, whenever somebody talks about manchego cheese, the word sounds to me like a character from grand opera.
“In this evening’s performance,” I hear in my head, “our villain Manchego will be played by the renowned baritone Luigi Montenegro.” Which probably has nothing whatsoever to do with cheese.
On the other hand, I realize that words which sound exotic to me might sound perfectly ordinary to somebody else. For example, when I was a child, my father was fond of pointing to the name of the great opera composer Giuseppe Verdi.
“To us,” dad would tell us, “he was Giuseppe Verdi” (rolling out the sound for dramatic effect). “To his audience, he was just Joe Green.”