# Serious questions about the smell of human poop **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 23, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683 "2016-07-23T15:36:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/21 "2016-07-25T23:05:18Z")
Welcome aboard, **allpfpc**! Not sure where your post is going, but hey. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/22 "2016-07-26T00:16:38Z")
> [@allpfpc](#): > > One of my friend smells bad, I am afraid to tell him that. Well shit, that really stinks. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/23 "2016-07-26T00:35:25Z")
"I’d rather Flush than Sniff."™ ---
**Author:** ![duncs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@duncs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duncs)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/24 "2016-07-26T10:20:31Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > "I’d rather Flush than Sniff."™ Sounds like a new game show “Flush or Sniff” ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/25 "2016-07-26T12:20:53Z")
When my poop (or flatulence) smells worse than usual, I eat some yogurt, and that usually helps. Fresh poop from a healthy person who hasn’t eaten anything especially malodorous isn’t terrible smelling. I could tell when my babies had stomach bugs by the odor, and could follow the spread of the bug through the family. High protein foods, especially fish, seem to increase the odor. Onions can add pungency, as can some spices. Some fruits can “perfume” your poop. I once had my husband ask if I was using a scented product after I took a dump. I had eaten a lot of Crandall currants, and a lot of the odor passed through me. I consider my issue to be a cheap health check. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/26 "2016-07-26T17:29:00Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > …I once had my husband ask if I was using a scented product after I took a dump. I had eaten a lot of Crandall currants, and a lot of the odor passed through me… Awww, sweet story. Domesticity. (Only partly a joke., as you say…husbands and wives watch out [smell out] for each other, and are alert to possible health changes.) ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/27 "2016-07-26T17:34:14Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > I would think shit is supposed to smell bad … and unappetizing … it’s an evolutionary thing. You might change your tune if you were a dung beetle. Shit is heaven-scent to them. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/28 "2016-07-26T17:44:02Z")
Googleitis :eek:: **69 Causes of Stool Odor** > **[Healthgrades Health Library](https://www.healthgrades.com/healthguides/top-health-stories)** > > Browse comprehensive health information, interactive quizzes, appointment guides, Q&As, videos and more for hundreds of diseases, conditions and procedures. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/29 "2016-07-26T17:54:36Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Well shit, that really stinks. P.T. Patty and the ladies Thought their shit did not stink. Fat-ass Johnson and the football team, Picking fights at the skating rink. In my book I wrote it down, In my own poetic style. In my book, it’s a crock story, Memories in a pile. But when I read it back again, It wasn’t fit (a bunch of shit) To wrap my garbage in, In my book, [In my book.](http://doorbell.net/sounds/inmybook.mp3) – Dick Monda ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/30 "2016-07-26T19:09:02Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > When my poop (or flatulence) smells worse than usual, I eat some yogurt, and that usually helps. > > Fresh poop from a healthy person who hasn’t eaten anything especially malodorous isn’t terrible smelling. I could tell when my babies had stomach bugs by the odor, and could follow the spread of the bug through the family. High protein foods, especially fish, seem to increase the odor. Onions can add pungency, as can some spices. Some fruits can “perfume” your poop. I once had my husband ask if I was using a scented product after I took a dump. I had eaten a lot of Crandall currants, and a lot of the odor passed through me. > > I consider my issue to be a cheap health check. 🙂 Oh look at that **puzzlegal** ; her poop smells like _perfume_:dubious: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/31 "2016-07-26T19:30:44Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > You might change your tune if you were a dung beetle. Shit is heaven-scent to them. Actually, I have no sense of smell. I have never in my life smelled poop. I bet it’s not that bad. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/32 "2016-07-26T21:03:21Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I bet it’s not that bad. 🙂 Do you get the urge to roll it up and take it home to the kids? ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/33 "2016-07-27T05:57:12Z")
Since the subject came up, there’s something that I’ve wondered about for a while. When I’m on the “throne,” I **cannot** notice any bad smell from it. Now, considering the physics of smelling, I’m sure that it’s there–but somehow it just doesn’t register. Is that common? Now farting–that’s a different story. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/34 "2016-07-27T12:42:29Z")
That’s just weird. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/35 "2016-07-27T12:53:22Z")
That does seem really weird. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/36 "2016-07-27T17:47:16Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > …I once had my husband ask if I was using perfume after I took a dump. I had eaten a lot of Crandall currants, and a lot of the odor passed through me. > > I consider my issue to be a cheap health check. 🙂 > > > [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > > > Awww, sweet story. Domesticity. (Only partly a joke., as you say…husbands and wives watch out [smell out] for each other, and are alert to possible health changes.) This kind of loving intimacy among couples is a constant theme of Joyce, described richly here: …and I pudd a name and wedlock boltoned round her the which to carry till her grave, my durdin dearly, Appia Lippia Pluviabilla, whiles I herr lifer amstell and been: I chained her chastemate to grippe fiuming snugglers, her chambrett I bestank so to spunish furiosos: I was her hochsized, her cleavunto, her everest, she was my annie, my lauralad, my pisoved… In _Finnegans Wake_, our middle-aged husband HCE (“her hochsized, her cleavunto, her everest) gives a laundry list of what he does and has done for his wife (he is under trial). Here is another glimpse of how of he lives and loves enduringly (“lifer”) and continues to love (”\* amstel"–he owns a bar, part of his life as well) ALP (Appia Lippia Pluviabilla) as part of a marriage, the wedding ring/lock bolted onto his “durdin dearly” (she is as beloved and down-to-Earth as the city known affectionately as Dear Dirty Dublin). They share “chambrette” which he stinks up so furiously as delicately and as aristocratically as any who listed in _Debrett’s Guide_ to Manners and Nobility and all those who observe its rules of etiquette. His pooping and its smell is a veritable epic poem, the great humanized-reboot of chivalric romance, _Orlando Furioso._ Which has a plot point that Orlando loses his wits, which are trapped in a bottle (long story) and he regains his sanity by…smelling deeply…from that bottle. \*Orlando Furioso \* by Ariosto, first appeared in 1516. Its first translation from the Italian to English was by John Harington in 1591 at the request of a real Queen, Elizabeth. Five years later Harington published a description of a new invention: the flush toilet. It may be noted that one of the novel features of this chaste “mate” of the couple, is that it’s chained, referenced earlier in the Wake and, for that matter, a number of times in _Ulysses_; shit “fiumes” particularly if one is sick with a cold (“grippe”); and, if you care to think that way–and why not, considering Shem (his son, more or less) going on at length about the literary vitality of his essential midden-worthy nature–turds can be said to snuggle at the bottom of the bowl, and we do have a snuggly couple (HEC and ALP) in mind, the thought image isn’t so distant. We remember HCE earlier in the day taking care of business in the outdoor “lamatory.” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683/37 "2016-07-27T18:06:38Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > … > \*Orlando Furioso \* by Ariosto, first appeared in 1516. Its first translation from the Italian to English was by John Harington in 1591 at the request of a real Queen, Elizabeth. Five years later Harington published a description of a new invention: the flush toilet… To be clear (ignoring the solecisms of the complete post), it should be “…Harington published a description of _his_ new invention…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-questions-about-the-smell-of-human-poop/760683.md?page=1)