# cyanide smell

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cyanide-smell/5660>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 29, 1999, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cyanide-smell/5660 "1999-12-29T16:53:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![aenea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@aenea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aenea)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cyanide-smell/5660/1 "1999-12-29T16:53:00Z")

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why can some people smell cyanide, and some people not?

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JBW

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**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cyanide-smell/5660/2 "1999-12-29T17:40:00Z")

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Raymond Chandler in “The Big Sleep” says that cyanide smells like “bitter almonds.”

I have no idea what bitter almonds smell like, so I guess I’m an easy target for poisioning.

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**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 1999, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cyanide-smell/5660/3 "1999-12-30T03:32:00Z")

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Some people can smell it, the others are dead. Thats lifes breaks.

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 1999, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cyanide-smell/5660/4 "1999-12-30T03:36:00Z")

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I thought it was arsenic that smelled like bitter almonds. Or was that old lace?

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 1999, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cyanide-smell/5660/5 "1999-12-30T03:38:00Z")

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No, it’s _Old Spice_ that smells like toxic waste, and I wish you kids would quit givin’ it to me every year!