# Concerning the smell of semen **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 10, 2000, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705 "2000-09-10T22:12:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DeathLlama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DeathLlama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeathLlama)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2000, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/1 "2000-09-10T22:12:07Z")
Just curious what other people think (guys/girls, straight/gay, whatever). A. I like it B. It’s okay C. I’m indifferent D. I’d rather gargle with monkey urine than smell that stuff again ---
**Author:** ![Fairy\_Princess\_Kitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Fairy\_Princess\_Kitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fairy_Princess_Kitty)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2000, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/2 "2000-09-10T22:14:20Z")
Well I’m not quite sure about liking the smell or not because smell wasn’t what I was thinking about at the time but most of my guy friends say it smells vaguely like chlorine, whether that’s good or bad I don’t know. Kitty ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2000, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/3 "2000-09-10T22:17:15Z")
IMHO, it depends completely on what you ate/drank. Semen after a night of drinking and eating hot wings smells/tastes like (d). Semen after drinking a lot of, say, pineapple juice smells/tastes like (b). Haven’t found anything guys could eat/drink that would make me think (a). ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2000, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/4 "2000-09-10T22:21:05Z")
Never really thought about it . Give me about 1.5min’s and I’ll get back to you 😉 Oh hold on my housemates mightn’t appricate that . Since I’m in the same room as them 😃 ---
**Author:** ![nederlander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8e8cbc/32.png) [@nederlander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nederlander)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2000, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/5 "2000-09-10T22:21:41Z")
well, it definitely has a very distinct odor, although i don’t think it’s necessarily a good or a bad one. i guess you could say i’m pretty indifferent about it, really. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2000, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/6 "2000-09-10T22:23:50Z")
regarding smell - indifferent regarding… well, I’m partial to chocolate, so until that day… ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2000, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/7 "2000-09-10T22:24:42Z")
Striaght guy here. I’ve never been close enough to it to smell it, I guess. So I suppose I’m indifferent. I’ll ask my GF what she thinks about the smell. So far, she has only commented on the taste 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2000, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/8 "2000-09-10T22:29:41Z")
Indifferent, I guess. I wouldn’t exactly buy it as a scent, but it doesn’t make me barf either… ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2000, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/9 "2000-09-10T22:59:16Z")
First off, even if you’re a straight guy it doesn’t mean you haven’t smelled/tasted it…haven’t any of your girlfriends shared? I swear…kids these days. I’ve never been fond of the taste, but I won’t spit, either; too much of a neat freak. Heh. I will say, though, that the taste has NOTHING on the viscosity; gotta keep a tumbler of soda handy for a chaser or it’s…well…it’s uncomfortable, okay? OKAY? ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2000, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/10 "2000-09-10T23:00:37Z")
Oh, and big DUH for the OP…the scent itself is…well, really, not either good OR bad. Sorta neutral. Although, having had three kids and not wanting ANY more I think I’m still having an automatic Pavlovian terror response…catch me again after menopause. ---
**Author:** ![activgurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@activgurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/activgurl)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/11 "2000-09-11T02:29:33Z")
Hmmm, I once knew a guy whose semen smelled just like a chestnut tree in bloom. Can’t pass those trees without him coming to mind. Other guys don’t seem to have any disagreeable odors, unless it’s the smokers. THAT seems to have a funky turn to it. ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/12 "2000-09-11T02:49:24Z")
Mine smells vaguely like chlorine, too. I used to work in a restaraunt, and when I’d clean tables with a chlorine bleach mixture, I’d always think “Man, who’s been jackin off in here…?” –Tim ---
**Author:** ![Anti\_Pro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Anti\_Pro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anti_Pro)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/13 "2000-09-11T04:36:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hamadryad \* > \*\*Oh, and big DUH for the OP…the scent itself is…well, really, not either good OR bad. Sorta neutral. Although, having had three kids and not wanting ANY more I think I’m still having an automatic Pavlovian terror response…catch me again after menopause. \*\* 😃 to most of your comment, \*\* Hamadryad \*\* this is more to tell you, be sure and hang around here long enough [about thirty years for you???] to relate your menopause story. As for me, it’s still the pits! One month yes, the next, no, then the third, it’s absolute PAIN. ☹ Color me \*\* C \*\* though, it’s been so long, I’m not sure I remember the scent correctly. I do remember it’s something I wouldn’t buy. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/14 "2000-09-11T05:05:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > **I’ve never been close enough to it to smell it, I guess** This, from the man who introduced many of us to the word “FELCH”. For shame. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/15 "2000-09-11T06:39:07Z")
Many moons ago, before I was a boring programmer/family man type, I was working my way through college at a produce wholesaler in Tulsa, OK. It was really crappy work, primarily delivering produce to restaurants and grocery stores. Anyway… one of the few perks of the job was that anything you wanted to eat from the warehouse while you were on the clock, was free. I didn’t buy groceries for, like a year! I lived on apples and oranges, grapes and watermellon. My girlfriend LOVED it! She could always tell if I’d been drinking coffee too! Just by the taste of my semen. I’ve heard some women say it tastes ‘nutty’ too. I agree with clorox smell, though. Especially after I’ve been drinking coffee. On a side note… one thing I really miss about that job is the smell of walking into a huge refrigerated storeroom as big as a house that’s filled with nothing but different types of apples. It’s indescribably delicious! ---
**Author:** ![Mirth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Mirth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/16 "2000-09-11T07:02:18Z")
I agree this depends on what they guy has eaten, but in general I am pretty indifferent to the smell. The taste doesn’t bother me either-- its the… texture that I find unappealing. The closest I can come to describing it is swallowing snot. Well, was trying to think of something a little less disgusting to end with, but its closing time here at work, so I hafta run. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/17 "2000-09-11T12:09:04Z")
Mine smells like pollen, according to my SO. It is also variable according to diet, stress, and length of time since the last ejaculation. Anyone else see the recent “Sex in the City” episode where Samanthat met the guy with “funky spunk?” ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-smell-of-semen/32705/18 "2000-09-11T12:13:48Z")
The smell doesn’t bother me. I don’t mind the smell of gasoline, either. Now, mind you, that doesn’t mean I want to SWALLOW a mouthful of the stuff…