Sense of smell

Shenshen

I had a little argument with the husband last night, and was accused of having too snesitive a sense of smell.

What happened was we were sat on the couch watching telly, and I lay across his lap. His laptop sat on the arm rest next to him, right next to my head.
And after a few minutes, I started to get annoyed at the smell of metal coming off it. It wasn't strong, but I generally dislike metalic smells, particularly copper.

So I sat up, he asked why, hilarity ensued.

But that got me thinking - I know I've got a reasonably keen sense of smell, but I never thought of that as somehow unusual.

I'd smell when pasta is cooked, I'd smell if a cup of tea 4 desks down from me has milk in it or not. My mom tells me that when I was little and we were on a hike, her and me got lost and I took her by the hand and walked her to a river that was about 1.5 km away. When asked how I found it, I said I could smell it.

So how keen is your sense of smell, AH? Am I still normal or should I check my family history for illicit affairs of the canine variety?

FatherLen

are you a super hero?

maximoose

Wouldn't like to fart in your company

Esoteric_

I'm jealous. I can't even smell my dinner when it's right in front of me.

SEPT 23 1989

Can you smell fear?

Shenshen

maximoose wrote: »

Wouldn't like to fart in your company

*lol

Nah, hubby does that loads, as do the cats. Funnily enough, while it's annoying, I don't find that smell anywhere near as annoying as some perfumes, for example.

MadsL

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4wc12vsEX1ql07cxo1_400.gif

Shenshen

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Can you smell fear?

In cats, yes. Every time one of ours needs to go to the vet - a very musky, rank smell.

Not sure about humans.

.Henry Sellers.

Can you smell Bullsh1t?

Shenshen

.Henry Sellers. wrote: »

Can you smell Bullsh1t?

On here? Constantly.

Can you hear pudding?

Shenshen

Well, what can everyone else smell?

Do you think you've got a good sense of smell, or a poor one? Are you happy about it either way?

What's the weirdest thing you ever smelt?

Rothmans

Well, I thought I had a good sense of smell, but now . . .

Honey-ec

I can smell whether or not tea has sugar in it. Does that count?

Cee-Jay-Cee

So your telling us you can smell water!

Not even god can smell water!

sbsquarepants

I destroyed mine with nefarious chemicals. I can still smell a bit, but nothing like i used to - and even at that, i couldn't smell rivers a mile or anything like that. Are you perhaps part bear?

jimmycrackcorm

Op, if you can spend all day crawling around on all fours then why not apply to be an airport customs dog.

Shenshen

CJC999 wrote: »

So your telling us you can smell water!

Not even god can smell water!

Don't think I would have been able to smell pure water - but rivers aren't pure. I could smell this combination of wet ground, certain weeds and algae, mostly.
Enough to let me know where the river was, anyway.

Shenshen

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Op, if you can spend all day crawling around on all fours then why not apply to be an airport customs dog.

Hmmm... no. I'd only get on all fours for certain activities which would be frowned upon in airport environments.

Shenshen

sbsquarepants wrote: »

I destroyed mine with nefarious chemicals. I can still smell a bit, but nothing like i used to - and even at that, i couldn't smell rivers a mile or anything like that. Are you perhaps part bear?

What, snuff?
Or other things?
They ruin your sense of smell?




Kind of makes sense, but I never knew that.

Dtp79

I smell a rat!

who_me

I've been told I have a terrible sense of smell. I really don't think there's any way I can take that as a good thing.

whiskeyman

Are you a supertaster too OP?
Perhaps you should go into the wine business.
I remember certain people with super taste / smell senses earning big bucks because of their talent.

Ormus

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Op, if you can spend all day crawling around on all fours then why not apply to be an airport customs dog.

Or go for a job in an ol factory

GalwayGuy2

Hows your eye-sight?

sbsquarepants

Shenshen wrote: »

What, snuff?
Or other things?

Other things! :eek:

At least i'm assuming that's the cause.

darkpagandeath

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1796447.stm

women have a better sence of smell than men

JanaMay

Are you me, OP?

It's the worst super-power to have!

I can smell the bins on the street below (I live on the 5th floor).

Dirty nappy? I know before the kid has even thought about it.

Coupled with this my husband is the biggest farter since Johnny Fartpants.

That stinky freak on the bus? (I've got off more buses than I can remember, due to slightly stinky people.)

It's awful. But I can tell when my dinner's ready just by putting my nose in the air like Lassie...

Czarcasm

Shenshen wrote: »

What, snuff?
Or other things?
They ruin your sense of smell?

Kind of makes sense, but I never knew that.

Not so sure that's the nefarious substances they were referring to Shenshen, but yeah, it destroys the nasal membrane with prolonged use.

No sense of smell myself, and I've always had blurred vision which had gotten progressively worse over the years. On the upside though (though sometimes a downside), I have exceptional hearing, in that if you're talking to me at normal volume, it feels like you're shouting at me, and when I have my earphones in and the office phone rings, I've sometimes forgotten to take out the earphones, once or twice having been asked as we're talking can I hear music in the background :pac:

sbsquarepants

JanaMay wrote: »

Dirty nappy? I know before the kid has even thought about it.

The number of times my missus has walked into the room and said "are you not going to change her, she's stinking" while the baby is sitting on my lap. Sometimes i'd even be after holding her up to my nose and smelling her and still wouldn't get it.

JanaMay

sbsquarepants wrote: »

The number of times my missus has walked into the room and said "are you not going to change her, she's stinking" while the baby is sitting on my lap. Sometimes i'd even be after holding her up to my nose and smelling her and still wouldn't get it.

Lucky you!

biko

Let me know if you're ever coming to Beers, I'll brush my teeth that day.

john the one

Can ye smell what the rock is cookin?

starlit

Try not to worry op ive a very sensitive sense of smell even from a distance!!! I can smell things across the room like flowers if very stong. Lilies give me a instant migraine. Ive a long list of scents i dont like. Regards perfumes and toletries i prefer a sweet citrus or not perfumated scent.

starlit

sbsquarepants wrote: »

The number of times my missus has walked into the room and said "are you not going to change her, she's stinking" while the baby is sitting on my lap. Sometimes i'd even be after holding her up to my nose and smelling her and still wouldn't get it.

I smell a fairly dirty nappy at a distance i dont even have to put my nose to it unless ive a cold or very blocked nose but could still get a whiff even with a cold...!

starlit

JanaMay wrote: »

Are you me, OP?

It's the worst super-power to have!

I can smell the bins on the street below (I live on the 5th floor).

Dirty nappy? I know before the kid has even thought about it.

Coupled with this my husband is the biggest farter since Johnny Fartpants.

That stinky freak on the bus? (I've got off more buses than I can remember, due to slightly stinky people.)

It's awful. But I can tell when my dinner's ready just by putting my nose in the air like Lassie...

I can smell dinner from any room in house while it cooked!!

Shenshen

who_me wrote: »

I've been told I have a terrible sense of smell. I really don't think there's any way I can take that as a good thing.

Heh, trust me, there are times I wishes I couldn't smell a thing.

Especially when around certain colleagues who must have specially desigend perfume showers at home, or others at the opposite end of the spectrum who haven't yet heard of the invention of toothbrushes and mouthwash.

starlit

CJC999 wrote: »

So your telling us you can smell water!

Not even god can smell water!

I can smell coffee but tea depends how strong or if it green tea.

My taste be sensitive too. I can almost taste whats cooked. I can tell the difference between full and low fat milk just by taste! I be the same with flora and butter they both taste different. Some people dont notice.

Newaglish

If I were doused in bleach it will probably take me a few minutes to realise. Well, to smell it anyway.

Medusa22

I've had a good few sinus surgeries and I have chronic sinusitis so most days I have very poor sense of smell and sometimes none at all. It is annoying because I can't tell if food is gone off, I have to get my girlfriend to smell chicken and things like that, to make sure it hasn't gone off.

The same with milk, it might be within the sell-by date but I usually don't realise it has gone off until it is leaving floating bits in my tea/cereal and I have to throw it out.

It also makes me paranoid about being smelly, obviously I shower and change my clothes after wearing them but I still get paranoid if maybe my breath smells or things like that, I honestly wouldn't know. Can't smell gas either which isn't good :P

My girlfriend often comes into the kitchen and tells me that the bin smells awful and needs to go out, it is rare for me to be able to smell the bin and just occasionally I can smell food cooking. It is handy when my girlfriend or cat farts though

Nemeses

Medusa22 wrote: »

t is handy when my girlfriend or cat farts though

Your misses farts ? That's bad form.

Driveby Dogboy

who_me wrote: »

I've been told I have a terrible sense of smell. I really don't think there's any way I can take that as a good thing.

strong post to username correlation ...

Nemeses

Driveby Dogboy wrote: »

strong post to username correlation ...

Coincidence? I think not.......

Teyla Emmagan

Mine is good but it's not that good! I can't smell rivers from miles off. It amazes me how bad other people's sense of smell is at times. Maybe it's great not through go through life gagging at street corners full of piss but if I had no sense of smell I'd be terrified I was going around with bad breath or something. And I love good smells, a fresh day, clean skin, food. One thing I can always tell from feet away is anyone who had a shower in a can that morning. Yuk!!!

shopaholic01

When you said you were lying across his lap I thought it was going to be a different smell (the unwashed variety)! :P

pache

i smell something fishy going on here....

Shenshen

shopaholic01 wrote: »

When you said you were lying across his lap I thought it was going to be a different smell (the unwashed variety)! :P

Hehe... that wouldn't have resulted in an arguement, I would just have gotten a sponge and cleaned that up

sbsquarepants

doovdela wrote: »

I can smell coffee but tea depends how strong or if it green tea.

My taste be sensitive too. I can almost taste whats cooked. I can tell the difference between full and low fat milk just by taste! I be the same with flora and butter they both taste different. Some people dont notice.

I can do all those things, yet i usually can't smell a shítty nappy when i the child is sitting on my lap!

Shenshen

sbsquarepants wrote: »

I can do all those things, yet i usually can't smell a shítty nappy when i the child is sitting on my lap!

I don't know - with full fat vs low fat milk and spreads vs butter it's not just the taste, mostly it's the texture that feels very different in the mouth.

Maybe that's how you can tell those differences?

sbsquarepants

The butter i can taste, but that's probably because i've never liked butter even as a kid. The milk is more a texture thing alright, i couldn't tell the difference in tea or cofee.

MajorMax

I can always smell when it's going to rain, I've been slagged for bringing an umberella to work on sunny days, but I always get the last laugh