# Deaf means you can't hear, what is it when you can't smell?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-means-you-cant-hear-what-is-it-when-you-cant-smell/93720
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 16, 2001, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-means-you-cant-hear-what-is-it-when-you-cant-smell/93720 "2001-11-16T14:09:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Big\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Sam)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2001, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-means-you-cant-hear-what-is-it-when-you-cant-smell/93720/1 "2001-11-16T14:09:44Z")
We all know that people who can’t hear are deaf, and that people who can’t see are blind. Is there a word or words for people who can’t smell, taste, or feel?
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### Author:  [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2001, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-means-you-cant-hear-what-is-it-when-you-cant-smell/93720/2 "2001-11-16T14:15:48Z")
Dysosmia.
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### Author:  [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2001, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-means-you-cant-hear-what-is-it-when-you-cant-smell/93720/3 "2001-11-16T14:18:28Z")
well, I thought the name of the condition was “anosmia” so the sufferer would be “anosmic”.
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### Author:  [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2001, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-means-you-cant-hear-what-is-it-when-you-cant-smell/93720/4 "2001-11-16T14:21:29Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Big Sam \*
> \*\*We all know that people who can’t hear are deaf, and that people who can’t see are blind. Is there a word or words for people who can’t smell, taste, or feel? \*\*
Covered by the Master:
[What’s the term for people who can’t smell or taste?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/980327.html)
> [@](#):
>
> The technical term for the inability to smell is **anosmia** , and a person who is unable to detect smells is **anosmic**. The inability to taste is **ageusia** , and a (literally) tasteless person presumably would be an **ageusiatic**.
> A related term is **dysgeusia** , the condition of having an abnormal, presumably bad, taste in your mouth. This word offers a range of uses. Basic application: “Marge, that velvet Elvis painting is the last word in dysgeusia.” “Thanks, we’re the envy of the trailer park.”
It’s actually been covered twice, here’s another column: [What is the term for people who lack the sense of taste? Tasteless?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_149.html)
> [@](#):
>
> The technical term for the inability to smell is anosmia, and a person who is unable to detect smells is **anosmic**. The inability to taste is **ageusia** , and a (literally) tasteless person presumably would be an **ageusiatic**. These terms allow one to express oneself in an honest yet tactful manner. Thus:
>
> Vaguely Important Looking Person at party: “I thought Demi Moore gave a compelling performance in Striptease.”
>
> You: “Goodness, you must be an anosmic ageusiatic.”(1)
>
> VILP: “No, actually I’m a Presbyterian from Cleveland.”
>
> A related term is dysgeusia, the condition of having an abnormal, presumably bad, taste in your mouth.
> sub “You have no taste and you can’t tell when something smells.” [/sub]
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2001, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-means-you-cant-hear-what-is-it-when-you-cant-smell/93720/5 "2001-11-16T14:22:02Z")
I will probably hate myself for saying this in public, but it’s bothered me for years.
If you can’t smell, do you need a smelling-nose dog?
It seems like they’d be so well fitted for it.
Not being able to smell seems really odd at first thought, but it’s even stranger when you consider how much of your sense of taste is bound up with smelling. Someone who cannot smell also cannot taste properly. I’ve always imagined this disorder must exist, but never heard of anyone witbh it.
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### Author:  [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2001, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-means-you-cant-hear-what-is-it-when-you-cant-smell/93720/6 "2001-11-16T14:44:38Z")
My dog has no nose.
How does he smell?
Awful.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2001, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-means-you-cant-hear-what-is-it-when-you-cant-smell/93720/7 "2001-11-16T14:49:27Z")
A friend of mine has no sense of smell. He says if he’s ever trapped in a post-apocalyptic, Mad Max type world, he’s gonna raise skunks. Nobody would bother him.
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### Author:  [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2001, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-means-you-cant-hear-what-is-it-when-you-cant-smell/93720/8 "2001-11-16T17:04:53Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Phobos \*
> \*\*My dog has no nose.
> How does he smell?
> Awful. \*\*
That joke stinks.
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### Author:  [@Vincent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vincent)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2001, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-means-you-cant-hear-what-is-it-when-you-cant-smell/93720/9 "2001-11-16T17:20:33Z")
Out of respect and consideration for those among us who (unfortunately) cannot smell, I think we need to use a more politically correct term which I therefore coined:
**olfactorily challenged**
Please refer to the poor people who can’t smell this way so they won’t have to be constantly confronted with their handicap.
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### Author:  [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2001, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-means-you-cant-hear-what-is-it-when-you-cant-smell/93720/10 "2001-11-16T17:35:22Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by CalMeacham \*
> \*\*I will probably hate myself for saying this in public, but it’s bothered me for years.
>
> If you can’t smell, do you need a smelling-nose dog?
> \*\*
My dad lost his sense of smell, due to sinus problems, and he could definitely use a smelling-nose dog. As it is, when I’m home from college, I become a smelling-nose daughter, and my mom does duty as a smelling-nose wife. It’s very much annoying to be called out to the garage and asked where the dead-rat smell is coming from.