# What odd things do you enjoy smelling or tasting or doing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 16, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441 "2010-08-16T19:47:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/1 "2010-08-16T19:47:56Z")
What kinds of things do you love to smell, taste or do that you know most others would probably find gross or odd? I think of this as akin to popping a really big, deep zit. You know it’s supposed to be gross and that it could result in a scar. But you can’t help but do it anyway because it’s so damn satisfying! I’m not that way with zits, but I am that way with smells that I know intellectually are probably pretty raunchy, but because of who they’re associated with, they’re downright wonderful. For me, it’s the way my husband and kids smell after they sleep. All of them have assorted odors that would probably be gross on anyone else (I’m sure I stink, too), but because it’s them, I love it. My husband especially smells funky after a long sleep, but he still smells right. My husband recently admitted that he used to like the taste of his ear wax when he was a kid. Totally disgusting, but he said it was really satisfying for some reason. So, what are yours? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/2 "2010-08-16T20:57:15Z")
Freshly laid asphalt. To me it smells just as great as freshly baked bread. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/3 "2010-08-16T21:04:00Z")
Yes, asphalt. Also gasoline. And lumber. And skunk odor, but only from a distance. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/4 "2010-08-16T21:06:27Z")
Jellied gasoline, but only in the morning. (Actually, I used to love the smell of toll booths. Probably because as a wee lad we’d drive through several on the way to grandma’s, which built a positive association.) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/5 "2010-08-16T21:15:04Z")
Can’t say I really enjoy it, but asparagus pee is kind of interesting. Mine, that is. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/6 "2010-08-16T21:23:26Z")
I lovelovelove the smell onions leave on my hands. I think it’s an association from earliest childhood, because it makes me think of my mother’s hands. (Something I’m sure she’d hate if she knew, as it smacks of “peasant.”) ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/7 "2010-08-16T21:30:13Z")
Moth balls. (of course you have to lift their tiny peckers to get a good whiff. ba-dum-bum) My grandparents closets and clothing smelled of them and even after their passing the smell brings back great memories of them. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/8 "2010-08-16T21:40:52Z")
Smelling: My yard when I’m done cutting it - gasoline & freshly cut grass. Tasting: Pickle juice. Doing: Picking off all the peeling sunburn off of my wife’s body. (Mine too I would assume, but I don’t burn easily enough). ---
**Author:** ![Taenia\_spp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@Taenia\_spp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taenia_spp)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/9 "2010-08-16T23:05:24Z")
Alright since you brought it up in the OP, **overlyverbose** , I actually like the smell of (my own) zit pus once one’s been popped. It’s got that slightly cheesy…cultured…aroma to it. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/10 "2010-08-17T00:17:13Z")
Love the smell of fertilizer. Smells like life bursting out everywhere. Sorta used to get aroused by the smell of hospitals – but I don’t think they smell the same way anymore. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/11 "2010-08-17T00:24:39Z")
Do they have to be gross? I can’t think of anything gross, sorry. Cedar wood (sharpened pencils), rubber (rubber bands, hot water bottles, tires), the smell of a fresh newspaper, and sometimes the whiff of cigarette smoke, but only outside, and only a whiff in passing. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/12 "2010-08-17T00:29:12Z")
Light rain on dusty asphalt. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/13 "2010-08-17T00:30:55Z")
I’ve got a thing about hydrocarbons, also. The smells of gasoline and kerosene are appealing. And when I was in third grade they tarred the roof of our new schoolhouse. Little globs of tar dropped on the sidewalk around the school and I’d scoop them up once they had dried to chewing-gum consistency, hide them in my desk and enjoy a surreptitious chew during spelling after lunch. So far no tongue cancer. . . One summer I was on an edible plants kick and grew a lot of edible flowers in the yard. When the neighborhood kids would come over to play we’d have a little educational tasting buffet along with the usual silliness. I did get a few raised eyebrows about that one from the doubters in the crowd. Still grow edible flowers and use them to decorate salads and desserts. ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/14 "2010-08-17T01:38:27Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Light rain on dusty asphalt. This. ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/15 "2010-08-17T01:41:54Z")
I love the smell of a laundromat. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/16 "2010-08-17T03:09:38Z")
Tennis balls. (smell, that is) ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/17 "2010-08-17T03:24:47Z")
My long haired cat has the most amazing smelling fur. I love to bury my nose in his fur and just inhale deeply. I try to do this alone, but a few close friends have seen me do it when I hug him or something before leaving or when coming home. They look at me like I’m such a weirdo. No argument there, but then I have to ask, “haven’t you ever smelled just - clean - fur?” My short haired cats don’t smell like that. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/18 "2010-08-17T03:32:51Z")
Two things immediately come to mind. I love the smell of Ace reusable cold compresses with soft touch fabric. I can’t place the smell, but something about it is really familiar. Secondly. I looooove the smell of a freshly lit cigarette. Specifically if it’s somewhere away from me (like, in another room). Just that first minute or so as it drifts into the room…love it. ETA, when there’s a really heavy down pour that only lasts 15 minutes or so and then the sun comes out. There’s a very specific smell associated with that that I like as well. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/19 "2010-08-17T04:58:32Z")
I really love the smell of a new shower curtain. That fresh plastic smell is fantastic. I also enjoy the smell of formaldehyde, or whatever it was that the crawdads we dissected in elementary school smelled like. I’m pretty sure it was formaldehyde, anyway. Whatever that was, I smell it from time to time - very rarely - and I enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441/20 "2010-08-17T05:08:49Z")
I love the smell of tomato plants. If I could get that smell in a spray, I’d probably always be spraying it in my house (as perfume would just be weird). I also love the smell of baby aspirins - I think some leather work gloves smell like baby aspirin, too, and I like that, too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-odd-things-do-you-enjoy-smelling-or-tasting-or-doing/550441.md?page=2)