Does it Reek or Just Smell ?

Over the weekend, a three year old used my bathroom, going potty is a good thing, and came out into the hallway and clearly announced, "it smells in there". So of course I took him back into the bathroom and asked him what smelled. and he promptly replied that it smelled like flowers.

I recently got a reed diffuser for a gift, it has a bottle of fragrant oils into which long reeds are placed and they somehow gradually wick the oil up the reeds which in turn supplies the bathroom with the "smell".

When I heard him say smell and associate it with a bathroom, I immediately thought, now what stinks in there. But this little 3 year old had learned the word smell, and he did not differentiate between good or bad, no adjectives here.

It got me thinking. Just how many words are there when it comes to smell, and when did some become negative and some positive? I know when I hear the word odor, I immediately think of BO, a decidedly unattractive smell, but when I hear the word fragrance, I know that I probably am going to like the smell, similarly goes for the word aroma, which I always equate with baking, especially bread.

You know if something is said to have a stench or reeks, the smell is definitely not going to be pleasant. If you have just sprayed yourself with your favorite cologne, the last thing you want to hear is that you reek. Both flowers and perfumes are described as having bouquets as does wine. It conjures up a sweet smell to me, one that I think I am going to enjoy.

Can you imagine trying to learn English, and understanding the nuances for multiple words for smell? I came up with 11 words that all can mean a smell of some kind, smell, reek, scent, aroma, sniff, perfume, odor stench fragrance bouquet and stench.

I think if English was not your primary language, it would take a while to get used to all of the smelly words. And speaking of learning English, if you understand the word scent, does that screw you up when you hear sent or cent in a sentence?

I am glad that I was born here, I don't think that I would be great at learning multiple words for the same thing. I think I would most likely commit some faux pas trying to use the correct word, I can just imagine myself telling a chef that I thought his bakery reeked, or perhaps had an odor.

Yup, proud to be born in the USA, saved me a lot of time and effort having to learn English.