Humans smell.
QUIZ
Do humans smell — noun?
Do humans smell — verb?
Do humans smell — adjective?
Smell is primarily a verb or a noun, not an adjective. It can be used to describe the act of perceiving an odour (verb) or the odour itself (noun). While the word “smelling” can act as a participle or adjective, “smell” itself is not inherently an adjective.
Here’s a breakdown:
Verb: “I smell the flowers.” (describes the action of smelling)
Noun: “The smell of the flowers is sweet.” (refers to the odour)
Adjective (participle form): “The smelling salts are on the table.” (here “smelling” is a present participle acting as an adjective)
Adjective (derived): “smelly” (meaning having a strong or unpleasant smell)
Therefore, while “smell” can be used to form adjectives like “smelly”, or appear in participle form like “smelling”, it is not an adjective on its own. (Britannica)
How important is it for humans to smell?
It can range from have to have to nice to have.
Smelling mustard gas, also known as sulphur gas, since World War I — including the Iran/Iraq War — has resulted in over 100,000 casualties, where the sense of smell has been immediate, overwhelming, and deadly.
At the other end of the scale, an expensive perfume suits our vanity and may lift our emotional spirits. It is not directly a health need, yet we spend. Medicine is both a science and an art.
Much of smell is subjective. Putting a prescriptive title on smell is difficult because odours can change rapidly — even within milliseconds — while our considered definitions are usually slower.
Our smell at the beginning of the day may be very different from our smell after sweating it out in the courtroom, or chainsawing on our lifestyle block. Our personal smell is not so personal when others are in our vicinity.
What we discharge can influence not only ourselves but those within our sphere, and we are mindful. Fortunes have been made by corporates tapping into our personal “Emissions Trading Schemes” via perfumes — universalising what we are cajoled to be socially agreeable in.
Vanity versus sanity.
Institutional and personal smell are often at odds.
A hospital smells different from a prison, from a church. Our behaviour may be modified accordingly.
The church, wanting communion, will often create a specific smell using incense or candles to bind the congregation. We submit.
Smell and taste also intertwine. Part of the joy of eating is smell; the other is taste. Does anything bind more than bread being baked in the kitchen? Many forever reflect on Mother’s baking as “Best in Show.”
What is the ideal smell?
Research has not come up with much of an answer. Smells associated with positive experiences are suggested as best; the worst smells with negative experiences. This is not a certainty.
One of my worst jobs was selling candy floss at the country show — yet candy floss is still tempting. To an adult, a baby has that special bonding smell… until their nappies need to be changed!
Odours determine our behaviour. Would we change nappies as often but for smell? More broadly, would we do as much as we do without smell?
Smell can be a verb or a noun. We can absorb smells and we can emit them. We can change our smells by what we do, what we apply ourselves to, what we apply to ourselves, or even what we associate with.
The first sign of a medical condition may start with a change in smell. There is even movement towards medical dogs being trained to smell cancer, similar to sniffer dogs at an airport. Smell (olfactory) tests can be done, but are not common.
Perhaps the lesson is twofold:
Take self-responsibility, and be grateful for the ability to smell — for better or worse, in sickness or in health.
Recent Covid patients who lost their sense of smell and taste often prefer the days when they smelt.