# How would you tell a sweet girl that she has B.O.?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-tell-a-sweet-girl-that-she-has-b-o/625931>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 22, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-tell-a-sweet-girl-that-she-has-b-o/625931 "2012-06-22T12:24:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-tell-a-sweet-girl-that-she-has-b-o/625931/81 "2012-09-08T23:23:48Z")

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> [@al27052](#):
>
> I shower about once a month, never use deodorant, and never get BO. My mother never has BO either, I think it’s genetic.
> 
> OTOH, my ex-wife had pretty rough BO, and sadly, my daughter inherited it too.

Once a _month?_

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**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-tell-a-sweet-girl-that-she-has-b-o/625931/82 "2012-09-09T13:05:35Z")

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> [@Savannah](#):
>
> Once a _month?_

Whether he needs to or not!

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**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-tell-a-sweet-girl-that-she-has-b-o/625931/83 "2012-09-09T15:11:34Z")

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A good friend of mine taught me the best opener for bad news about your appearance: “Only your best friend would tell you this, but…”  
For example:  
“You have spinach in your teeth.”  
“That dress makes you look huge.”  
“Your deodorant isn’t working.”  
“That lipstick color makes your teeth look yellow.”  
Or, God forbid, all of the above…

The opening phrase (only your best friend) contains within it many subtexts, to wit, this is difficult for ME to say, but I care about you, others have noticed but no one else cares enough to come forward and risk hurting you, but this is so important, _I_ have to do it, etc., etc.

It really works. I’ve used this opener on a fair number of occasions with success.

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-tell-a-sweet-girl-that-she-has-b-o/625931/84 "2012-09-09T15:52:23Z")

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> [@The\_Shroud](#):
>
> First of all, is it really possible she doesn’t smell it on herself?

I’ve not actually seen this question addressed. It’s absolutely possible. I cannot smell my own BO, even when it’s built up on things.

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**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-tell-a-sweet-girl-that-she-has-b-o/625931/85 "2012-09-09T19:23:05Z")

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Glad you’ve made it past the first step, Shroud. Now that the two of you can talk about BO, it won’t be long until the you of you can start having fun together with a bucket of warm, sudsy water.

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