# A faint smell of some thing sometimes smells like some completely different thing

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-faint-smell-of-some-thing-sometimes-smells-like-some-completely-different-thing/320046>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 4, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-faint-smell-of-some-thing-sometimes-smells-like-some-completely-different-thing/320046 "2005-09-04T14:56:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-faint-smell-of-some-thing-sometimes-smells-like-some-completely-different-thing/320046/21 "2005-09-06T18:33:07Z")

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I think burnt popcorn can have a coffee smell.

And baking soda toothpaste tastes/smells like fish, but when you rinse your mouth is sparkling fresh. Weird.

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**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-faint-smell-of-some-thing-sometimes-smells-like-some-completely-different-thing/320046/22 "2005-09-06T19:55:37Z")

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The coffee thing . . . I’ve never heard anyone say that. Now, in my case, I’ve noticed a tuna fish smell - but it’s in my 9:00 piss, if I’ve drunk a lot of coffee. I first noticed it a few years ago - mornings when I have a bit more coffee than usual, after its diuretic effects kick in - bam, tuna piss. So apparently whatever that tuna-smelling chemical is, it survives the digestive and excretory systems unscathed.

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