# Smells and/or Tastes that Everyone Loves but You Abhor **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 30, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483 "2016-11-30T19:37:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/61 "2016-12-01T18:34:23Z")
> [@by-tor](#): > > Almost everyone I have talked to about it, thinks coffee smells and tastes like the nectar of the gods. Those people can fuck off. The _smell_ of fresh ground coffee\* is\* heavenly. The taste is hellish. I hate Pumpkin pie and especially pumpkinpiespiceeveryfuckingthing. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/62 "2016-12-01T18:40:38Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Lobster? Another - You’re joking. You’ve GOT to be joking. > > Shrimp - see “Lobster” > . I am of the opinion that most people really just like the drawn butter. 😛 I like deep- fried breaded shrimp. But if course, you can pretty much bread and deep fry anything and it will be tasty. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/63 "2016-12-01T18:43:38Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > I know that not everyone likes Diet Coke, but I have a hard time understanding how ANYONE could like it. Still, it’s immensely popular. Even diet tonic water makes me want to barf. Drink diet only for 2-4 weeks, Afterwards, sugar soda will taste weird to you.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/64 "2016-12-01T18:46:43Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Cilantro. I hate it. > > Ketchup. Just disgusting. My son practically bathes in it. All parents should be automatically sainted for the things we do for our children. Genetics. There’s a gene, if you have it cilantro tastes like soap. Yep. I mean, maybe a little on a cheap burger. Sometime, when I get those thick steak fries, i mix ketchup with malt vinegar and it’s Ok. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/65 "2016-12-01T18:49:39Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Burning leaves. It smells like nasty air pollution to me. Because it is. Yep. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![misling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@misling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misling)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/66 "2016-12-01T19:04:34Z")
I think it’s not so much microwave popcorn, as it is the fake butter stuff they pour in it. If you make PLAIN microwave popcorn, then melt some real butter and drip over it (sparingly, please), it smells fine. So long as you don’t burn it. Microwave burnt popcorn smells like ass even if it is lacking the horrid fake butter stuff. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/67 "2016-12-01T19:50:29Z")
Lavender. Maybe because it is so ubiquitous in cleaners, beauty products, and other household chemicals that I associate it with whatever noxious chemical scent that it is trying to conceal. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/68 "2016-12-01T19:51:26Z")
> [@Azeotrope](#): > > I’ll second baby stank. The only time a baby smells good is in the 1-picosecond window between the baby being freshly bathed, powdered, and dressed in fresh clothes and diaper, and something noxious being expelled from one end or the other. That’s what I was going to say- a clean baby has a pleasant smell, but they hardly stay clean for more than a few minutes before they poop, pee or barf. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/69 "2016-12-01T20:07:39Z")
> [@misling](#): > > Microwave burnt popcorn smells like ass … Context matters here. Not all asses smell the same. Some of them … uh, nevermind … ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/70 "2016-12-01T22:28:04Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Context matters here. Not all asses smell the same. Some of them … uh, nevermind … No please do continue… ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/71 "2016-12-02T01:55:47Z")
Oh yeah, add me to the strawberry-haters. The smell is acceptable, although certainly not anything I’d seek out. But the taste is nasty - something weirdly metallic/bitter/sour. Clearly there is some chemical in the fruit that most people can’t taste but a few of us can. My son is like me - he tastes it too. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/72 "2016-12-02T02:19:13Z")
Napalm. Some people who think it smells like victory. . . Scented candles. Why stink up a room on purpose? ---
**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:** [December 2, 2016, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/73 "2016-12-02T12:08:07Z")
Aniseed / liquorice. Can’t stand the merest hint. Raw fennel. Cornflower pudding. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/74 "2016-12-02T13:28:22Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Drink diet only for 2-4 weeks, Afterwards, sugar soda will taste weird to you.:eek: This is exactly what my friends and acquaintances tell me, but I would never be able to get past the first one. One guest at my house asked for a rum and Coke, but then declined any drink at all when I didn’t have Diet Coke. And I don’t want to make myself sound virtuous (a lost cause anyway), but, other than alcoholic beverages and black coffee, I only drink tap water. Sometimes I have to buy bottled water when I’m out, but definitely no soda, energy drinks, or even iced tea. I think just about anything would taste too sweet/weird to me. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/75 "2016-12-02T14:13:01Z")
On reading through this thread, I remain grateful that there are so few smells and tastes that I dislike. On the fragrance front, there are succulents (i.e. Stapelia species) whose large star-shaped flowers are redolent of rotting meat, the better to attract pollinating flies. And a species of Gynura I once grew had small yellow flowers that smelled like used sweatsocks. I love 'em all. ---
**Author:** ![Lydia\_Phalfav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@Lydia\_Phalfav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lydia_Phalfav)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/76 "2016-12-02T15:06:14Z")
Running through this list & I felt nothing really until babies were mentioned which I totally agree with. It doesn’t smell fresh or sweet, it smells like it came out of a snatch. --That same college dorm sex smell… Makes me throw up in my mouth a little while writing this… Otherwise burning wood & leaves will give me a massive migraine within 5 minutes. I used to LOVE the smell as a kid, before I started getting migraines. Fragrance oils also do the same if they are in heavy concentrations like most trendy shops that have candles, soaps, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/77 "2016-12-02T15:40:38Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Play-Doh. I have no idea what it tastes like, but the smell is disgusting. Just a whiff of it sends me into a panic. > > I don’t know, perhaps there was some unfortunate Play-Doh incident when I was a kid that I’ve repressed. But I can barely stand to even be in the same room with Play-Doh. > > This is a problem, because I have a three-year-old. If you don’t like the smell, definitely don’t taste it because it is much, much worse. It tastes like bad wet flour mixed with loads of salt except it is much worse than that sounds. That is probably because that is basically what it is. Silly Putty on the other hand isn’t that bad at all. It tastes a little chemically but you can chew it like gum if you are so inclined (still not recommended). ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/78 "2016-12-02T16:04:31Z")
Subway shops. What ever the hell that smell is of the baking “bread” is… GAH!!! Vomit-inducing vileness. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/79 "2016-12-02T16:40:19Z")
Also in the group that can’t enjoy seafood. Any type of fish. And also shellfish. Lobster, shrimp? You must be kidding. It sucks, really. I wish I liked it. I wonder if it could be similar to the cilantro aversion in that there is a gene that makes it taste horrible. It’s very strange. All seafood tastes the same to me. It has an underlying flavor that I don’t enjoy (to put it mildly). ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483/80 "2016-12-02T16:48:51Z")
How has wine remained a popular beverage for millennia? To me, red of any kind is utterly awful and even the most appealing varieties of white fall on the unpleasant side of neutral. Licorice/anise is the one flavor/scent whose appeal is truly unfathomable to me, but I don’t know that it’s one that “everybody loves.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-or-tastes-that-everyone-loves-but-you-abhor/773483.md?page=5)