# Why does tuna fish smell like... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 12, 2002, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226 "2002-12-12T09:04:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![capnfutile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@capnfutile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capnfutile)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/1 "2002-12-12T09:04:45Z")
…you-know-what, or more accurately, vice-versa? And why does the flora of the said item tend to smell more appealing in younger women than in older women? I confess my sampling base isn’t really extensive, but does range from 19 to late 60’s, all of whom regularly bathed. Is this left over from more primitive times when the younger, more fertile of the species needed to be more appealing to primitive males? I read once somewhere, mighta been SD, that the purpose of pubic hair was originally to hold scent. Well, where’s _my_ mind been all day? Capn ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/2 "2002-12-12T10:14:05Z")
A few drops of lemon juice do away with the smell and greatly improve the flavor. And BTW, it’s just “tuna”. We all know it’s a fish. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/3 "2002-12-12T10:55:06Z")
Garlic butter is also good, perhaps a little torn fresh coriander maybe also some mild chillies sliced into very thin slivers… ---
**Author:** ![blinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@blinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinx)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/4 "2002-12-12T11:08:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*A few drops of lemon juice do away with the smell and greatly improve the flavor. > \*\* Wouldn’t that sting a little? // blinx ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/5 "2002-12-12T11:42:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by blinx \* > **Wouldn’t that sting a little?** It’s debatable whether fish experience pain in the same way that we do; in any case, there’s not likely to be much sensation once it has been canned. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/6 "2002-12-12T13:31:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*A few drops of lemon juice do away with the smell and greatly improve the flavor. > > And BTW, it’s just “tuna”. We all know it’s a fish. \*\* And we all know a blowfish is a fish, too. So do you tell the fish vendor, “I’d like a blow.”? ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/7 "2002-12-12T13:34:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\*And we all know a blowfish is a fish, too. So do you tell the fish vendor, “I’d like a blow.”? \*\* As in “a blow to the head”? ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/8 "2002-12-12T13:37:06Z")
Ah yes, but which head? ---
**Author:** ![Rug\_Burn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a87d85/32.png) [@Rug\_Burn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rug_Burn)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/9 "2002-12-12T13:40:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*It’s debatable whether fish experience pain in the same way that we do; in any case, there’s not likely to be much sensation once it has been canned. \*\* You mean you can buy it in a can now…why didn’t anybody tell me. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/10 "2002-12-12T13:40:11Z")
I wonder if anyone has a serious answer for the OP… ---
**Author:** ![smam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@smam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smam)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/11 "2002-12-12T13:58:31Z")
I am wondering when the topic will broaden to include cheese. I think it just has. ---
**Author:** ![cdhostage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@cdhostage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdhostage)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/12 "2002-12-12T14:02:25Z")
sting? wouldn’t that, Sting? (improve the flavor) In any case, where did I read it, I forget…l anyway, I remember reading somewhere that it’s UNDERWEAR that causes buildup of feminine stench. It’s apparently much milder in women who allow a little airflow around there. I wonder how that information was gathered. Actually, me bets that this study was not done at all, but was done by a lonely British medical student who noted nothing more than the lack of ball-sweat after a few days gone commando. Instant thesis! No atual data required, no one’s going to check! ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/13 "2002-12-12T14:18:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smam \* > \*\*I am wondering when the topic will broaden to include cheese. > I think it just has. \*\* Where is **[P.T. Smegma](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?s=&action=getinfo&userid=20138)** when you need him? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/14 "2002-12-12T16:04:01Z")
I work at an aquarium & when I get close to tunas above their tank, they don’t smell at all. When I eat tuna sushi, again not much of a smell at all. So this is a perplexing question capnfutile. Are you sure you are up to date on your scombroids? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/15 "2002-12-12T16:15:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Beelzebubba \* > \*\*Where is **[P.T. Smegma](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?s=&action=getinfo&userid=20138)** when you need him? \*\* Oh my god. When I saw that I had to get on aim and tell someone (no one specific, I just had to tell _someone_) but I was laughing so hard I couldn’t type my password. That is probably the funniest in a looong list of funny names I’ve heard in my life. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/16 "2002-12-12T16:28:43Z")
It also doesn’t taste like chicken … ---
**Author:** ![zwaldd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a9adbd/32.png) [@zwaldd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zwaldd)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/17 "2002-12-12T16:53:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*I wonder if anyone has a serious answer for the OP… \*\* Here’s one. I dated a gal that did smell like tuna. I almost broke up with her because of it, and there’s no way I would’ve told her why. She went to the doctor and they put her on antibiotics for an infection. Infection cleared up, tuna smell vanished, everyone lived happily ever after. The end. ---
**Author:** ![B.Pants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@B.Pants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Pants)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/18 "2002-12-12T18:08:59Z")
If a girl smells like tuna, that’s not a good thing. In my experience, while some women may just have naturally pungent vaginas, they generally have a good smell. The only one I’ve ever encountered that was unpleasantly scented made me turn around and say, “Hmm, well, I’ve got to be going.” Maybe these ladies don’t bathe as often as they claim. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/19 "2002-12-12T18:48:52Z")
What do tuna vaginas smell like? ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2002, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226/20 "2002-12-12T20:20:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lieu \* > \*\*What do tuna vaginas smell like? \*\* Oddly enough, boiled carrots with a little butter sauce. Really! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tuna-fish-smell-like/142226.md?page=2)