# Smelly French or Americans? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 27, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125 "2004-07-27T17:33:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/21 "2004-07-28T11:42:19Z")
> [@Powers106](#): > > This sounds like an urban legend, as I’ve heard it a few times from different sources and the story is more or less the same. Nevertheless if it is actually true, I’d say that the cost of water has nothing to do with it - but the electricity or natural gas needed to heat up the water might have been the issue since it was, and still is, relatively expensive. I see no reason not to believe that this was the case with her. What is true is that this is just one data point from a certain unnamed place within France from 20 years ago and you certainly can’t build a case from just that. Although I do know it wasn’t in Paris. I just thought I’d toss it out to see if anyone else who had experience from back then would concur. I’ll also say that we weren’t discussing French bathing habit’s at the time but rather she was talking about how different culture behave in different ways by illustrating various ways in which the two cultures were different and here was a humorous/embarassing personal experience. ---
**Author:** ![\_xiao\_wenti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b782af/32.png) [@\_xiao\_wenti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_xiao_wenti)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/22 "2004-07-28T11:47:44Z")
I get up in the morning, drink a cup of coffee and then take a shower. If I mow the yard, I drink a beer and then take a shower. IMHO Americans (myself included) tend to overwash. Part of it is the obsession with smell and part of it is the sheer luxury of endless hot water. I have lived abroad (South America) and have dealt with expensive and cool water showers – Boliva; strip off the sweaters and silks, take a quick shower, shivering throughout; immediately put the stuff back on. It makes you delay a shower until you really want/need one. I work at a US University in technology and deal with many foreign students from many different locations. We have European students and I have noticed more odors from the Germans, rather than the French, but this is a limited sample and the Germans are in to riding bikes in hot weather, so I can’t say this is cultural. What I have found is that the Eastern Europeans are more hygenically challenged. I have gotten used to the smell of garlic. What I can’t get used to is the smell of poor dentisty/oral hygiene. Man, the Chinese need dentists. They need them bad. That being said. I do not believe in covering my scents. I have looked for unscented shampoo for a long time. This is something that my gro doesn’t carry. Don’t blame the French for this. Thank them for trying to keep us out of Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/23 "2004-07-28T11:48:28Z")
Ok, just back from lunch and a smell test 🙂 I asked 15 girls (it was a great excuse!) and 14 said that their men showered daily, but only 8 said that their men then used some sort of deodorant, the others just washing in the morning and then again maybe in the evening. So it’s to be expected that taking the evening metro in Paris would result in a certain pong at times. I agree with **jovan** also. My cousins in Dallas and Boston would sometimes skip showering and just spray themselves with deodorant instead, believing that going unwashed for one day wouldn’t kill them but if they didn’t smell right… I had noticed what **Mangetout** said but didn’t really have the word power to say it in a way that wouldn’t get me flamed and this thread pitted 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/24 "2004-07-28T12:21:20Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > Those French people who do not bathe daily believe that daily washing damages the skin and hair, drying them out and causing blemishes. They may be right. I heard that for hair, never for skin. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/25 "2004-07-28T12:27:53Z")
> [@Powers106](#): > > To further the cultural thing, I once had a nice french girlfriend who told me I was wearing too much deodorant, I didn’t need to use it EVERY day - . A lot of men (probably the majority) don’t wear deodorant in france, indeed. Now, I’m not convinced it’s specifically a french thing. Do german or italian men wear deodorant every day, generally speaking? ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/26 "2004-07-28T12:58:55Z")
From my travels in France, Paris seems to be pretty up on the whole cleanliness thing. But when traveling in the south of France, the stinkiness tended to increase noticeably. I think that’s mostly because we were dealing with more rural folk, who tend to be less concerned with things like deodorant, etc. even in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/27 "2004-07-28T13:54:10Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > I think this isn’t a question with a factual answer. There does seem to be one fact that stands out. When it is desired to arouse a prejudice against a particular group, just claim that they “small bad.” You mean “ **spell bad** ”? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wireless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@wireless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wireless)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/28 "2004-07-28T14:16:31Z")
> [@Powers106](#): > > This sounds like an urban legend, as I’ve heard it a few times from different sources and the story is more or less the same. Well, if you hear it firsthand, is it still an UL? The family I lived with in southern France (in 1979) did/said the exact same thing, once we got to know each other a little better: “You take a shower _every day_?” After that, I didn’t, not wanting to be a boorish guest and all. Please note I’m _not_ saying I agree with the “French people smell” thing. Although their teeth are another matter… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/29 "2004-07-28T15:45:53Z")
My experiences with the French have been limited, but I do agree with **_xiao\_wenti_** that German folk carry an olfactory aura bordering on BO. It is not being mean to notice that different nationalities have different odors. I’ve noticed that it isn’t even limited to cultures. Flame away, but white people smell differently than black people who smell differently than Asian people. Americans are bathing maniacs whereas other people are more laidback when it comes to sweat and dirt. I also think it may be the case that Americans have BO, but we’re acclimated to it. We don’t all share the same hygience habits, so I don’t know why it’s controversial to say we don’t all smell the same. When I was in middle school, three kids from Nigeria rode my school bus. And ooh boy, did they stink! It was rough for them because the other kids would tease and bully them and make a big deal of opening all the windows when they stepped on the bus. It was obvious that not only were they not wearing deoderant, but they were also not bathing very often. It’s sad to think that they had no idea how to fix their “problem”. For all they knew, their cleaning practices were completely normal. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/30 "2004-07-28T16:15:31Z")
Keep in mind that some of us might say the French smell like BO, sweat, cigarettes, leather, and coffee and consider that a compliment. Personally, I prefer those smells to “ocean breeze” deodorant, “green apple” shampoo, “menthol” shaving cream, and “irish spring” soap. I shower after I exercise or when about 3 days have gone by, whichever comes first. One of my pleasures is not showering or shaving all weekend long until Sunday night comes and I’m rank and greasy. I love it when my hair is all greasy and I can just stand it up and mold it. Once when it was shorter, I went a whole month without washing it just to see what would happen. I hate showering. If it weren’t for the rest of society being a bunch of olfactory sissies, I’d shower once a week. And I’m not joking. Does this answer the OP? No. I think the French nowadays might shower more than they used to. I’ve travelled there and know many. Most of the ones I know don’t really have a bad odor – no worse than some of the girls I used to date. A lot of cultures think other ones stink just because of their overall diet. Indians and Pakistanis have a distinct smell to me. I’ve heard they think we stink, primarily like dairy. :shrug: Some of the Americans in France might also have more of a “bohemian” slant to them, hiking around with a back-pack, staying in places with limited facilities, etc. My brother in law is French. He showers every day. He only brushes his teeth once a day. He believes it is damaging to brush them more often than that. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/31 "2004-07-28T17:10:22Z")
I lived in Europe (Germany, Belgium, Portugal) for eight years and traveled extensively throughout. The only objectionable thing for me was the incessant smoking, but that bothers me here at home, as well. Communist ‘tobacco’ was the worst by far. Yes, some BO problems exist, probably because once sweat odor gets into woolen garments, it’s nearly impossible to remove. It doesn’t mean the person under the garments isn’t clean. I also lived in Africa for three years, where water is truly at a premium, and where putting food on the table ranks much higher than buying deoderant or even soap. Nevertheless, I don’t remember any particular problems with body odor, other than a few very memorable instances. I also lived in Japan for a total of about a year and a half. I’m sure that with our diet, we smell worse to them than they do to us. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/32 "2004-07-28T17:26:38Z")
> [@YPOD](#): > > She said she wanted to practice her English - her American accent in particular. She smiled. She sat down. She leaned close. She wanted to practice her English? Suuuree she did. :dubious: No one tell you about pickpockets and the like that fleese foolish tourists like yourself? It wasn’t your accent she was after, and her unique perfume was probably the result of living on the street. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/33 "2004-07-28T17:30:32Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > It is not being mean to notice that different nationalities have different odors. I’ve noticed that it isn’t even limited to cultures. Flame away, but white people smell differently than black people who smell differently than Asian people. Americans are bathing maniacs whereas other people are more laidback when it comes to sweat and dirt. I also think it may be the case that Americans have BO, but we’re acclimated to it. We don’t all share the same hygience habits, so I don’t know why it’s controversial to say we don’t all smell the same. I’m going to have to agree with this statement wholeheartedly. Having lived in and travelled europe a bit, I know from experience that europeans are generally more laid back about people-smell. There are people who shower every day, there are people who don’t. There are people who wear deodorant, there are people who don’t. I think US culture is far more obsessive about covering up natural body odors. And I have also been told by my asian friends that americans do smell like sour dairy to them. I also know for a fact that when black people used the saunas at the spa I used to work at, they left a different smell in the room. I personally don’t mind so much. And **Sisyphus’ Stone** , who are you talking to? I don’t see anyone who really earned your response. I can’t help but wonder who exactly is this “you” that you refer to in your post? ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/34 "2004-07-28T17:40:27Z")
We all smell. Get used to it. And I’m sure people from different cultures and different diets smell different to what you’re used to. It doesn’t necessarily mean anyone’s dirty. Frankly, I don’t understand people who would rather douse themselves in a mixture of chemicals that purport to smell like a summer meadow rather than risk the horror of smelling like a person. I only occasionally use deoderant, as I rely on the fact that I wash to not stink. Other then that all smells are equal and I don’t care to reek of “ocean spray sport spice” any more than I want to reek of BO. ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/35 "2004-07-28T17:50:51Z")
> [@Sisyphus' Stone](#): > > This is yet **another** attempt at a put-down by insular and self-professed superior Yanks against another culture that they just don’t understand and that they won’t take the time and effort to try to understand. Gawd, but it’s tedious to read comments herein about the supposed faults of a culture that has it hands over tits in sophistication compared to the Seppos. Sheesh, try not to fall off that high horse you’re on. The OP was merely examining the stereotype, as far as I can tell. Are stereotypes like this silly? Sure. However, is there some basis to the “other cultures smell” claim? Yep. As we all (hopefully) know, the brain quickly becomes accustomed to olfactory stimuli. This is why you can go into a bad-smelling room, and a minute or two later not smell it anymore. Leave the room for a few minutes and come back, and there’s that smell again. All humans give off distinctive smells, and these are tied heavily into things like diet – things that would vary according to location. Therefore, when people who are used to a “standard” body smell visit somewhere where the “smell tag” is different, they notice it. That’s really about all there is to it. Also, I hope you note the irony of knocking cheap put-downs while calling Americans ‘Seppos’. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![nonpolar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@nonpolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonpolar)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/36 "2004-08-05T17:53:57Z")
Look at daily life in America: You drive car to and from work ,withdraw cash from ATM sitting in your car,order food also sitting in car. Supermarkets here are huge so interaction bettwen people is minimal,if you finnaly decide to go for a walk outside and there are hardly any people outside . Beacause everything here is build on a much larger scale people to people contact is minimal. Then you go to Europe on vacation and WOW! Sidewalks are full of people ,subways ,buses are overflowing cafees too.Old buildings are soo close together that you just can not avoid close conntact with others.So innevitably one gets to know how others smell. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/37 "2004-08-05T18:24:53Z")
> [@Powers106](#): > > Politically correct or not to say this, but every time I’ve taken the metro this summer I’ve either had to move away from sour, sawdusty-smelling frenchman or I’ve gotten a death-ray-worthy blast as one has passed by. Sorry, the French just don’t find body odor as offensive as Americans and they just don’t worry about it as much. Call it a cultural thing, but don’t try to suggest the Americans are projecting the body-odor problem on the French to feel superior. Personally, I’d just like to be able to take the metro without my toenails curling […] I know I generalize, and I’m not anti-French having lived in Paris for more than 10 years, but facts is facts and the smelly ones on the metro ain’t wearin’ reeboks and speakin’ American. Face it. And it has nothing to do with superiority. And the NYC subway smells minty-fresh, I suppose? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/38 "2004-08-05T21:23:17Z")
> [@nonpolar](#): > > Look at daily life in America: You drive car to and from work ,withdraw cash from ATM sitting in your car,order food also sitting in car. > Supermarkets here are huge so interaction bettwen people is minimal,if you finnaly decide to go for a walk outside and there are hardly any people outside . > Beacause everything here is build on a much larger scale people to people contact is minimal. This is, while not untrue, also not a universal truth. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/39 "2004-08-05T22:40:17Z")
My ex-husband (now 48) lived in France when he was about 10. To this day he will not willingly eat garlic because of his memories of being squished into buses with very fragrant French people. He has no such hang-ups from the time he spent in Germany with his mom’s relatives. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125/40 "2004-08-06T01:26:14Z")
> [@occ](#): > > As we all (hopefully) know, the brain quickly becomes accustomed to olfactory stimuli. This is why you can go into a bad-smelling room, and a minute or two later not smell it anymore. Leave the room for a few minutes and come back, and there’s that smell again. I can attest to this. After weeks spend painting, my co-workers and I would be startled when people passing by would comment on the smell of the paint. Paint has a smell? It wasn’t magic odorless paint, _we_ just couldn’t smell it any more. It wouldn’t surprise me if garbage men and people working in food packing experience the same thing, too. Don’t sensors in your nose get deaden from over-exposure? Olfactory fatigue, I think. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-french-or-americans/257125.md?page=3)