# Worst smells in the world **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-smells-in-the-world/754622 "2016-05-12T18:07:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [May 13, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-smells-in-the-world/754622/41 "2016-05-13T15:10:53Z")
Can’t believe I forgot to mention vinegar. Especially \*malt \*vinegar. Totally ruins my meal if someone around me uses it. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-smells-in-the-world/754622/42 "2016-05-13T15:18:10Z")
Damn, and I love putting malt vinegar on French fries. ---
**Author:** ![GunnarFranz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/da6949/32.png) [@GunnarFranz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GunnarFranz)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-smells-in-the-world/754622/43 "2016-05-13T15:19:44Z")
I hate vanilla with a passion. Coffee second. Other than that…tonsiliths? Most smells don’t bother me. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-smells-in-the-world/754622/44 "2016-05-13T15:50:05Z")
Rancid beer Tooth decay ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-smells-in-the-world/754622/45 "2016-05-13T16:08:57Z")
I’ve dealt with poop at home and professionally, and seriously, sewage isn’t that bad. Rotting garbage is actually much worse. In the cleanup after hurricane Katrina, there was a special section in the hazardous waste area, far, far away from anything else and with I believe full supplied-air breathing equipment for the workers, just to clean out refrigerators (that had been sitting, full of food, basically air-tight, but without power to actually stay cool, in a near-tropical climate for weeks or months). I understand even ‘Dirty Jobs’ turned down an invitation to come participate in that. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-smells-in-the-world/754622/46 "2016-05-13T16:32:05Z")
Mendacity? ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-smells-in-the-world/754622/47 "2016-05-13T17:12:08Z")
The decaying flesh of a still living rabbit mixed with the scent of stale urine and old matted feces with a dash of maggots thrown in. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-smells-in-the-world/754622/48 "2016-05-13T17:49:34Z")
> [@Lowdown](#): > > Patchouli. I hate it so much. I mentioned in the workplace rants thread in the Pit awhile back that there is a woman who walks past my desk on her way into and out of the office every day, and she must literally bathe in that stuff. There’s a lingering cloud of stink for a good five minutes after she walks by. Cut grass after it’s been sitting in a bag for a couple of days. Soiled baby diaper. Chicken diaper - that absorbent pad in the bottom of a package of chicken, when I forget that it’s in the kitchen trash and don’t get it taken out to the dumpster for a few days. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Machine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Ice\_Machine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Machine)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-smells-in-the-world/754622/49 "2016-05-13T17:52:11Z")
> [@Winston\_Smith](#): > > [Stinky tofu](http://www.eatingchina.com/articles/stinky-tofu.htm) > I don’t know if there’s a name for this, but what a _70 year-old chain-smoking alcoholic that hasn’t bathed in a week_ smells like > Hippies Came to post this as it’s the obvious one by the name. So difficult to get past the smell to try it (which I did manage to do). Whenever I’m at a restaurant with it it ruins my appetite for anything else there. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-smells-in-the-world/754622/50 "2016-05-13T18:12:07Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Can’t believe I forgot to mention vinegar. Especially \*malt \*vinegar. Totally ruins my meal if someone around me uses it. I totally read that as vagina. I was like, wtf you need to get that poor thing to the gyno if it smells that bad. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-smells-in-the-world/754622/51 "2016-05-13T18:25:53Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > I totally read that as vagina. I was like, wtf you need to get that poor thing to the gyno if it smells that bad. Especially \*malt \*vagina! 😛 I have to pretend I’m blowing my nose to cover up my snorting. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-smells-in-the-world/754622/52 "2016-05-13T21:24:37Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > hard boiled eggs I agree with this. I don’t like being near hard-boiled eggs because they reek so badly. Someone on this board described them as smelling like a fart that precedes stinky diarrhea. I don’t know if this is the worst smell ever, but I also hate the smell of McDonald’s food. Especially when people bring it in the bus and I can’t escape the stink for the rest of the bus ride. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-smells-in-the-world/754622/53 "2016-05-13T22:22:31Z")
Rotted fish guts. Some say a fish rots from the head down. No. It’s from the gut out. A single dead mouse spreads its stench over a surprisingly large area before its rotting is finished. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-smells-in-the-world/754622.md?page=2)