# How do some men get away with off-the-charts, across-the-room bad breath?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [June 30, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777 "2008-06-30T15:05:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/1 "2008-06-30T15:05:12Z")
I’ve been single for a million years, and as a single man with some deluded residual hope, I keep myself prepared to meet Ms. Right. So I have to (among other things) keep my underwear in good repair, get haircuts every four or five weeks, and keep my breath clean.
But I work with some grizzled old (married) men who have breath so bad that I can get nauseated from across the room. It’s like there’s a decaying, dead raccoon in the middle of the floor. How does that happen? It must either evolve over time, or there are a lot of women out there with inactive olfactory receptors.
Is my sample size too small? I don’t work with enough grizzled old married women to make a decent comparison, but the few I work with don’t seem to have the same nuclear-powered halitosis.
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### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/2 "2008-06-30T15:21:50Z")
Diabetes can give you bad breath.
Either that or their wives have given up.
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### Author:  [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/3 "2008-06-30T15:23:55Z")
Oh … forgot the question part, though I think it was implied – why do their wives put up with it?
It’s not like it’s rocket science to combat: floss + brush + tongue scraper = fresh breath.
Also, I don’t want to thread-jack or anything, but what’s up with guys whose nose hair merges into their moustaches?
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### Author:  [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/4 "2008-06-30T15:23:55Z")
Or they have serious gum infections or tooth decay or poorly fitting dentures.
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### Author:  [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/5 "2008-06-30T15:46:00Z")
Bad sinuses, too, can produce el stinko breath.
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### Author:  [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/6 "2008-06-30T15:59:24Z")
I had the unfortunate privilege to work with a guy who lived on a steady diet of cigarettes and coffee. AND he was a close talker.
That sucked.
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### Author:  [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/7 "2008-06-30T16:27:27Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire]
I had the unfortunate privilege to work with a guy who lived on a steady diet of cigarettes and coffee. AND he was a close talker.
That sucked.
[/QUOTE]
So you know Kurt H., too?
Small world.
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### Author:  [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/8 "2008-06-30T19:13:08Z")
One guy I know, in his late fifties, has breath that, as the saying goes “would knock a buzzard off a shitwagon.” He takes pride in the fact that he never brushes his teeth, the few that are left, that is.
I suspect his misses can put up with it because she smokes about 2 packs a day and can’t tell.
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### Author:  [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/9 "2008-06-30T19:53:58Z")
[sup]why did i open this thread???[/sup]
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/10 "2008-06-30T20:19:24Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire]
I had the unfortunate privilege to work with a guy who lived on a steady diet of cigarettes and coffee. AND he was a close talker.
That sucked.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that was going to be my guess “Their wives knew they smoked and drank coffee when they married them?”
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### Author:  [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/11 "2008-06-30T20:47:25Z")
All I have to say is…yuck. We have a couple guys here whose breath you can smell across the table during conferences - it’s awful. I have a really sensitive nose, too, so having to talk to them is akin to torture. I can’t even imagine having to kiss one of them or having to sleep next to one. Ick.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/12 "2008-06-30T21:41:57Z")
I used to work with a guy who actually seemed proud of the fact that the only time his teeth got flossed was when the dental hygienist did it every six months.
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### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/13 "2008-06-30T22:02:36Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr]
[sup]why did i open this thread???[/sup]
[/QUOTE]
Same here.
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
Where’s the puking smiley?
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### Author:  [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/14 "2008-06-30T22:14:02Z")
I had a former friend with Death Breath. It was because his teeth were rotting out of his head and he refused / was afraid to go to the Dentist. I’d offer him mints and he’d refuse them, whereupon I’d have to insist. When he was in my car, I had the windows open. Even at 30 below and at 100 above.
After having him stink up my apartment so bad one day that I had to spray off the furniture to remove the smell, I tried to have a talk with him about it. Couldn’t get past the excuses for not going to the dentist. But then, the man was nothing but a whole big pile of Neurotic, with excuses for everything. Which is why he’s a former friend.
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### Author:  [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/15 "2008-06-30T22:30:05Z")
Wow, I was a better off as a human being before I opened this.
The coffee breath actually wears off pretty soon after you are done drinking coffee so maybe their breath stops being as bad once they leave work?
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### Author:  [@beanpod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beanpod)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/16 "2008-07-01T02:22:55Z")
Hey, this thread is better than the one where the woman scratched all the way to her brain.
Jesus, **Chimera** , that’s…well, that’s a shame.
In addition to the occasional close-talking smoker with bad teeth, some people are apparently just stinkier than others, too. The Wikipedia entry on halitosis had a link to [this abstract](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9086681) about the “philosophical and practical aspects” of bad breath. It’s kind of neat that someone actually studied this. Here’s a quote:
> [@](#):
>
> At least 50 per cent of the population suffer from chronic oral malodor, however, and approximately half of these individuals experience a severe problem that creates personal discomfort and social embarrassment. The mouth air of chronic malodor sufferers is tainted with compounds such as hydrogen sulphide, methyl mercaptan and organic acids, which produce a stream of foul air that is gravely offensive to the people in their vicinity.
Now, I have nothing but sympathy for people who have to deal with this problem that’s out of their control. Still, that last sentence gives me the giggles.
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### Author:  [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/17 "2008-07-01T04:16:47Z")
Basic answer to the OP: Because everyone is afraid to tell them or to make them do anything about it.
I have been elected by default or by choice on numerous occasions to speak to other men about problems like their breath or other personal grooming or behavioral issues. Sometimes friends, but most often on the job.
When we’re kids, everyone and anyone will tell you these things. Somewhere along the line as adults, people become chickenshits and won’t tell their best friend that their breath kills small animals at 10 paces, or that they have urine stains down the front of their pants, or spaghetti sauce on their tie, for fear of embarassing them or causing a scene. But damn, people! They’re already being embarassed by the situation! Step up, MAN UP, and tell them already! Especially you supervisors out there. That’s your job, and if you lack the courage to do it, then you should probably reconsider the whole management track idea.
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### Author:  [@joazito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joazito)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2008, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/18 "2008-07-01T05:42:27Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia]
Diabetes can give you bad breath.
[/QUOTE]
My dad has the stink of death, and some minor form of diabetes… never knew they could be connected.
Anything he can do?
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### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/19 "2008-07-01T13:39:20Z")
I don’t know - does it smell kind of sweet and kind of rotting? That’s how my dad’s is sometimes.
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### Author:  [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-some-men-get-away-with-off-the-charts-across-the-room-bad-breath/454777/20 "2008-07-01T13:54:21Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia]
I don’t know - does it smell kind of sweet and kind of rotting? That’s how my dad’s is sometimes.
[/QUOTE]
Here’s an [article](http://ezinearticles.com/?Diabetes-and-Bad-Breath&id=344015)relating the two.
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