zMoonSmuggler
41061
947
12
Jul 20, 2025 1:57 AM
zMoonSmuggler
41061
947
12
terajack2048
So should have used the green pine trees…
Icethorn
I was once going back to the Netherlands from Mexico via Paris with Air France. A while before "breakfast" time, I smelled something like strong camembert. So I thought we got some special french breakfast. After some hours and not getting food. I was contemplating what was smelling like strong Camembert. A few seconds before realizing it was some french guys feet, the steward came with some strong eau de toilette or fancy febreze. His feet were gross
MutantForeskin
Around my way there was a block of flats (apartments to Americans I guess) where somebody died and the body wasn't discovered for about nine months, then a year or so later there was another one found. They demolished the place recently.
Darognarr
I had a, unfortunately, similar issue happen to me, my neighbor was found dead in his couch, who knows how long he's been there, but man the smell was ungodly. Nurgle would've taken a step back..
tinyfootprints
I wonder if thioacetone smells worse than decomposition. Decomp is the worst smell I've experienced.
ryti
Feet do not smell like death unless you have a really bad infection
HelikaformerNubisKnight9
Had neighbors that always had a big verbal fight in the late evening. Than after a few weeks of silence I say jokingly to may roommate I hope nothing has happened. Yeah, turns out he dropped dead at work a few weeks ago. :-/
OmnipotentBeing
Rabidbacon
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egoAristippos
Oooops!
thegarts
Oof
spooktree
zMoonSmuggler
https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTY1YjkxZmJlYng0b2VuOG1hZXV3OXowYXR2c3kyZGVvMm83YTM1MnVpcXk3dXppeSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/l1IYgUcOQ8xZOQf2E/giphy.mp4
Noogys
DeanGulberri1
EternalWipeForTheSpotlessBehind
EvPointMaster
Holy interpolation, Batman!
cousteau
"Get the hint"… well, I had a coworker who would let out the most putrid, nauseating farts at work, and I had to purchase a bottle of air freshener with the strongest and most ridiculous scent (baby cologne) to try and cover up his farts every time he went off, and nothing, he didn't get the fucking hint.
Thindi1
Probably encouraged him if he was after a reaction
IgnisInvictus
I had to directly tell a coworker to stop fucking doing that. He didn't want his stomach to hurt and thought SBD's were just fine in an office environment.
I'm kinda amazed he stopped after I told him to.
SmellingMistake
So he was deathly allergic to fabreeze?
Qpnao
https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1NmptNDBoZmZ3aHc0czVxOWg2YzBpemV6Yzk3eTc3dTRoemU5MDkwaCZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/dC9DTdqPmRnlS/200w.webp
charondaboatman
Who knew boiled feet could kill you?
Gindipple
Callie, how do you know what boiled feet smells like?
theoriginaljfizz
They probably died in the shower
Exyr
Heh. Decomp doesnt smell like boiled anything. It smells like instant retching
marquettegoldeneagles
I find it has an almond scent to it.
TheBigHank
Dude passed away in the neighborhood I lived in years ago. It was a singularly awful smell with some definite "sweet" overtones. Nasty AF.
endomorph
Once I was doing 2 weeks community service at a cemetery in the summer (best job I ever had, hehe) as part of punishment for 2 crimes. But that's another story…
I pushed a hand lawnmower with a good old trusty & mighty Honda engine over a rat carcass that I hadn't seen in my path! The poor animal's body – and it was a big fucker I tell ya! – had been lying on the outskirts of the huge graveyard, without more than an hour of shadow and w/ temps of at least 90° but mostly rather around 95°F >>
endomorph
>> for at least a week. My foreman said it was more at the 2 week mark and not much less.
The thing basically exploded. An invisible mist of the worst spoiled thing I have ever smelled spread & settled like a bell around the mower. Which quickly died, because the rat's skull got lodged between the blade and the outlet. I was lucky I didn't use a basket or something to collect the grass.
Still, this cloud of puke-inducing IDKwhat spread and set around the area. >>
endomorph
>> Intestines, hair and other stuff lay behind, under and around the mower, some was thrown a good couple 'o yards away; the mower's blade & housing were full of ripped apart pieces of guts.
I couldn't get near it.
No one could get towards the place where it happened. It stank 15 to 20 yards, easily. Lots of dry heaving! ^^"
I used a shemagh and a shitload of patchouli oil and bound it over my nose & mouth, although that didn't make it much better. I got as close as 5 meters that way >>
endomorph
>> and sprayed the area & mower with water for a long while! Slowly getting nearer, 'cuz the water pushed down the smell. I was glad I hadn't eaten. I was glad I was a good little buzzed bc we drank a lot of beer at that job. Glad I hadn't partaken in the few joints that went around at & after noon.
Spent the rest of the early afternoon in protective clothing with the water hose and other equipment to collect all the visible pieces. We threw the bucket & the gloves away after that. >>
endomorph
>> Took me 3 hours to spray, brush, clean and WD-40 the fucking lawnmower. It didn't smell so bad after bringing it somewhere else. But that spot of lawn where I hit the rat stunk for weeks.
I guess without the couple ~17 fl.oz. bottles of beer in my head I would have been sick all the while; almost puking, as all the other colleagues...
Fin. ;)
DukePhelan
I once found a guy who had hung himself in the closet. That was over 25 years ago, and I can still recall that stench vividly.
SteveTheEgg
Smell is actually our strongest sense memory.
freakdiablo
Where I work we have road crews in charge of picking up debris along our stretch of highway. Early on, when they picked up roadkill (sometimes this included deer) they'd just come back and toss it in the dumpster behind the shop. After a day or two in VA summer heat, well, that's a smell you don't forget. Eventually our HSEQ department told them to fucking quit it and get a contractor that can actually handle disposal.
allenvasher3000
Maybe he died in the tub with the hot water running
SkamanSam
On the street where i hung out in HS, there were apts above a row of ships that was owned by the coffee shop owner below it. One of the regulars stopped going to the coffee shop and i asked the owner if he was ok cuz I knew he rented from him. Never heard back. Flash forward 10 years to when i went to the uni next to that streetn and one of my coworkers told me of the time he cleaned up a dead body. Yeah, same person. He said no one complained of the smell cuz they thought it was from restaurant
AntsaPwns
Yeah, and the smell lingers in your nose :( my neigbour drank himself to death. When they opened his door i smelt it 🤢🤮
endomorph
End-stage chronic alcoholics have a certain smell about them even when they're still alive.
When the liver gives out, this sweet overtone is the dominant smell... :(
Their excrements/secretions smell like oncoming death... I had a few colleagues like that. One was jaundiced like all hell and even the treatments at the hospital, his "takin' a break" episodes, and the shitload of cologne he used couldn't mask that he was on his way to a really shitty death… He actually became sober and after >>
endomorph
>> half a year of that, jaundice regressed…— seems some part of his liver picked up the work again & he lived for at least another couple of years.
If you drink enough, your organs seem to stop the clumping of the platelets, similar to what Aspirin does. And if you don't stop, your blood will leak through your skin.
'Nother guy I knew left bright patches of blood on wooden benches he sat on for a while. His clothes looked grisly. His tears were light-red and didn't stop coming. Very slowly, >>
endomorph
>> took a few mins after he wiped his lacrimal glands for it to leak through again, but that was the state he had gotten himself into and was used to.
I saw him puke blood on occasion too. He switched from Alcohol to Heroin, got healthier but addicted to smack. Which was still Heroin, no Fentanyl nor Xylazine; back in those days you got what you wanted. Of course the street stuff was cut, but not with other, harder drugs... He still lived for another 10 years after this 'leaky' part of his life.
AntsaPwns
Ew
PainintheA
Maybe he died in a hottub?
dontfloatmygoat
That’s the dream. We’re all gonna go so…
IIikethecutofyourjib
So I guess... Matthew Perry....got it...right?
dontfloatmygoat
Could it BE any better!
IIikethecutofyourjib
https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1bzYxZTJ1dGlkcXcwMnZtZmo5bHYwczIwb2N1ODhkZDB6cGUydzJibSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/f5voQIM2GP1tkAT8J6/200w.webp
thedudeman519
I worked in some pretty poorly managed restaurants. I've smelled way too much rotting meat for my liking, but I imagine its something like that
FuzzyX
I am glad you said "poorly managed" when it is indeed some incompetence to not correctly refrigerate or freeze meat along with not getting rid of old meat long before it starts to smell bad.
thedudeman519
Yep that's what those words mean!
FuzzyX
One would hope for some regulation and restaurant health checks by the local government.
thedudeman519
You'd be surprised what greasing palms gets you.
Of course, when you're spending your money trying to bribe health inspectors and sanitation companies to pick up your rotting meat, you don't have the money to keep your restaurant open for very long, either.
TypicallyVigo
Kinda, but no; meat you have in a restraunt is going to normally be somewhat cleaned and sanitized. This means all the bacteria that normally keep the thing that was that meat's food digesting isn't suddenly let loose to have fun unsupervised anywhere it wants to go in the body.
dentros1
Warehouse I worked at had a fully enclosed loading bay, dumpster was kept inside, last stop before us was a Chinese restaurant, hot summer days *gags*
Freemasonry
Nah, it's pretty different, meat will just have environmental bacteria decomposing muscle from the outside, a full body will have the gi tract that starts eating away internally. Different bacteria working in different tissues will smell different
TODAYSNUMBERIS
It is… not. A compost bin comes close but imagine more… excrement
AnimusRex
You think? I always kinda liked corpse smell
Enoan
... You waht?
TODAYSNUMBERIS
Well have I got a job for you!
SecondSince
Do you need a pole for that red flag?
AnimusRex
Liking smells is a red flag now? Damn bro, you're a pansy.
IceWeaselX
Just curious. Do you work in a job that deals with cadavers? I've met a few morticians and medical examiners, and a lot of surgeons. They obviously aren't as bothered by corpses as most of us, but they don't necessarily enjoy the environment. Someone who enjoys the way a corpse smells might be a good match for such a career path. I have yet to meet one who enthusiastically enjoys the workplace.
myfirstandlastpostever
My dad was a Consultant surgeon for 40 odd years and absolutely hated dealing with raw meat in the kitchen. We always assumed because it wasn’t warm and he wasn’t scrubbed up.
AnimusRex
I don't, but my parent was a mortician. So I spent more time than usual at funeral homes
bigdix69420
Been there! Lol
GorillaPowers
Ahh.. you never forget your first decomp. That sweet oily smell sticks to your clothes
RadioFloyd
Yes, a common experience. Experiencing decomposing bodies.
jebstat59365
So who was boiling his feet?
zMoonSmuggler
https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTY1YjkxZmJlOGliN3lxa3U5OTc4cXVndjJndWFic2h4cm1ubHRtZndpeThqZnJ2eSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/G3YpUDl1DdlNjaTLei/giphy.mp4
katoutwo8
My mom cooked some bad ground beef to feed to our cats to "not waste it"…
It was really, really bad. You will know. Your sense of smell was literally BUILT to know.
Feralkyn
Were the cats okay?? You can't boil out some of the chemical byproducts of bacteria; they can still absolutely kill you depending on what colonized the meat, so that's terrifying to me as an animal lover
Thindi1
Knowing that cats are really fussy about food, I'm pretty sure they didn't touch it.
katoutwo8
Well, can't speak to their reaction, but I remember many days of cat ownership beyond that day, so by abstention or robust digestion, they survived.
Feralkyn
Phew, thank you
InfocalypseRising
People always say that dead-body smell is unmistakable and it's like...I wanna know? But I don't wanna know.
Feralkyn
It's the same as a dead/decomposing animal smell so it's not that hard to run into tbh. Like, it doesn't need to be human. If you live near a forest for long enough you'll run into it
CitrusyGarlic
Do you live at a place where there's an occasional dead animal on the side of the road? All dead mammals smell somewhat the same, give a rotten squirrel a whiff and you'll have a good idea what a rotten person smells like.
IronMagnus
It smells like purple to me.
battery1979
Drive around until you find a sizable road kill, pull over and have a sniff. Depending on the size of the animal, you won't have to get close.
kahlas
All you need to do is get a golden retriever and then visit someone who lives out in the country and let that golden run around off leash. On any given day it will have about a 25% chance to find a dead animal to roll around on top of. Then you'll know.
IdRatherBeOnThePlaystation
Hey man, NGL I wondered where your were going with this. I am relieved.
JCDenton10
When you catch a whiff of a decomposing body, you'll know. And you'll never forget it.
ZOMGNO
Its the flies. Usually when someone dies... the smell is one thing, but what tips people off is the specific type of fly and the quantity of them. I was disgustingly told this by people who lived next to an old guy who died. Didn't need to hear what they told me...
Kieralynh
My roommate had only been dead about 6 hours when we found her. Died in her sleep of a PE. She smelled like freshly churned earth, almost. It’s the closest thing I can think of. It smelled wrong. It felt wrong. I can’t be around my mom when she gardens anymore.
I’m sure looong dead decomp is way way worse. I’ve also heard each person smells different depending on diet, body chemistry, sex, etc.
terwashere
Just be happy you don't know. When my MIL passed away (cancer, at home) there were about 3 or 4 hours before she was collected. It took days to get the room fully aired out.
I wish I didn't know. ._.
judasgrowley
Yeah. When my old man died he was there for two days. We had to basically repaint the house and throw most stuff out. It’s a smell you will never forget, like opium but way less fun.
R100GSPD
It's not great
seesall9724
Take some raw meat, throw it in a sealed container, and let it sit in the sun for a few days. The resulting smell would be similar.
On the flip side burned, human flesh smelled like ham. Wife grew up nearva crematorium
ILike2TouchButts
Well yes and no... the body preservation techniques make it way more... interesting than just ham.
XA10
At least that’s what she told you! Was her maiden name Lecter or Dahmer? https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTY1YjkxZmJlY3I0ZWlrdHp3cmt0NHV5cDZ3c2pmb2gxM3loam5wMHcxcHl6NnNnZiZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/VvTG9RrCeGrza/giphy.mp4
MoodyMagpie
As someone with a branding on my chest, can confirm. Our meat smells like pork when cooking.
Snuggelapolous
So, roasted instead of boiled. Got it.
IgnisInvictus
Have you ever been near roadkill? Not the "just died" kind, the kind they've left to the side of the road for a few weeks? The smell of death really is unmistakable.
theskepticinme
It’s a mix of rotting meat and amplified personal smell. You’ve smelled it partly if you’ve smelled roadkill. It’s also individual to the person
ryti
Never had a rat die in your wall
Dodel1976
Get a few spuds, wet a little, put them in a bag and leave in a dark place, return a few weeks later, that smell is about 0.1% close.
m0problems
I had a dead rabbit decomposing in my yard for a while... I smelled it long before I found it. The funny thing is, a day or so after I actually saw it, it was gone. I guess a vulture took it or something.
DeanSledgehammer
In my opinion none of this "imagine rotting meat" stuff comes close. I was walking through apartment block corridor on my way to wash clothes. When I opened the fire seal door to the next hallway it felt like smelling a poison gas: something wrong & deadly, the worst smell I have smelled and can imagine, I didn't know what it was but my whole body went through a shock and going forward was not an option.
The only thought was "get out". I went through the nearby door and breathed clear air.
GorillaPowers
There isnt enough fat and tissue to render in just spoiled meat. Its all those extra bird rhat give decomp it's texture
DeanSledgehammer
I later learned someone had died multiple weeks prior and that day their door was opened. And it was summer.
Pfffftit
IYKYN
pandemicmodedad
You dont wanna know. It smells like shit in the sun for an entire day with a temp of 35°c. Its the worst smell ever. I experienced this went a drugie that lived in my building OD and no one knew him so he rotted for a week in the bathroom.
0Steve0
I've smelt gangrene and I've smelt dead bodies discovered in a house. Decomposition is an awful smell.
TODAYSNUMBERIS
I work for the Coroner service and my vegetarian compost bin smells worse. Weird but true.
InfocalypseRising
I can buy that. I have a buddy that composts a ton and the whole vicinity of the bin smells horrific
PileOfWalthers
Think about how bad a pound of spoiled meat smells. And how quickly you’d throw that out. Now multiply by body weight, and number of days in locked room, with no AC, in the middle of summer …
anerdwithaknife
It's in the same vein but it doesn't do it justice to be fair because it's so much more than just rotting meat. The entrails, stomach contents, bile etc that finds way to escape/leak out with time as well. It's what makes dead bodies distinguished from just food gone bad. (And it almost kicks off a primordial instinct of panic/survival when smelled.)
HeWhoHumpstanks
This. That's what it did to me. One of the very few smells that have made me want to throw up.
tyrsfavoritesword
Repulsion: what i feel when I smell it. It's definitely a primitive instinct.
anerdwithaknife
That's a great word for it. I was considering "dread", but repulsion is better because it has this inherent flight/recoiling sensation. The entire spine broadcasting "This is not a good place to be".
TODAYSNUMBERIS
You forgot purge, shit and pee, that is also fermenting and rotting.
PileOfWalthers
Not so much forget but trying to LOL. Like, my body refused to breathe until I got out. I took my camping gear and stayed away for a week.
Bladedrummer
Have you ever come across a dead animal that is decomposing? That's what it smells like. It is absolutely foul.
Eiladar
Last time I was in New Orleans, we visited St Louis #2. Some of the tombs were in such bad shape they had very little cover left (have a few pictures somewhere). Smell was pretty obvious. As a note, we found out that the families need to pay a fee to have the graves tended to, or need to set up a trust account. Once the money runs out, they're pretty much left.
captdiscommfort
You don’t.
FiftyShadesOfBroccoli
I know dead mice hidden under furniture smell a lot like onions or garlic in the early stages of decomposition. Like stale onion soup, but with a weird sweet-ish note. On the plus side, they're really easy to locate by smell at that point.
Larktonguesinadicecup
My neighbor died and rotted in his apartment, and it smelled, but not like "holy shit that's beyond this world putrid", more like "what's that unpleasant smell".
SJBSavageInk
I've been told it has a bike smell that's also a little sweet smelling and I'm just like...I wanna know but I don't... :|
seesall9724
Go on a country back road you'll find something sooner or later
SJBSavageInk
I don't even know what "bike" was supposed to be. Auto correct has hit that point on my phone lately that's a nightmare.
themobileappisbroken
You know that thing where you're looking for something and you don't know what you're looking for but you'll know it when you see it?
It's like that.
You don't know what it smells like but when you smell it, you know what it is.
alrightalrightalrightpartyatthemoontower
Is it like rotten animal carcass? Or different?
SlamProgram
Well a dead person is a rotting animal carcass...
AuthGaeuvyen
Imagine if the animal in question is also full of all kinds of nasty foods that all have various odors themselves along with the putrid stench of decaying flesh. Think about the difference in shit smell from a cow on a corn diet from shit from a 500lbs man who eats exclusively at fast food places. Now imagine that kind of difference in our rotting bodies. Humans REEEEEEEK also our brains are evolutionarily wired to know the smell of death and decay especially in humans.
therealsarahconnor
Serious inquiry: why are our brains programmed to recognize that?
AuthGaeuvyen
Because rotting corpses spread disease.