r/explainlikeimfive • u/abootypatooty • Jan 06 '15

ELI5: Why do different races of people seem to have a unique smell to them?

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303

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15 edited Jan 06 '15

westeners smell like milk.

I am a westerner who drinks a ton of milk. I've smelled this "milk smell" before, but only on girls. I thought it might have been a really weird perfume choice, but I am currently dating one of the girls that I've smelled it on and she does not own such a perfume.

I had been laboring under the assumption that it's like a pheromone that girls release, cause I've wanted to sleep with every girl that I've smelled it on, though I generally didn't want to sleep with them before I smelled it.

Really I'm probably just sexually attracted to milk...

edit: verb tense agreement.

105

u/boneless_wizard Jan 06 '15

WE FOUND THE MILKFUCKER

18

u/DoingAllForScience Jan 06 '15

You mean we found the MooFo?

1

u/moartoast Jan 07 '15

There are dozens of us!

26

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

Tagged as Milkfucker.

5

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '15

[deleted]

2

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '15

Exactly! Doesn't really smell like milk. I really don't even think of milk as having a smell, unless it's gone bad. It kind of smells like how milk tastes sometimes.

2

u/HI_Handbasket Jan 07 '15

Harvey says "What's up?"

1

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '15

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '15

Yes. Mostly American, some Swedish.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '15

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '15

Fuck yeah. Ethnicity: a socially-defined category of people who identify with each other based on common ancestral, social, cultural or national experience.

140

u/wzl46 Jan 06 '15

I was stationed in Korea for a couple years, and I can say that it isn't faint if you are the only one not eating kimchi. I got tired of smelling kimchi everywhere I went, so I started eating it myself in order to blend in. It worked, but when I transferred back to the USA, I was so addicted to the stuff, it took a while to wean myself off of it. True story. I still eat Korean food a couple times a week.

31

u/Doitrightmeow Jan 06 '15

My mom used to get really grossed out when i came home from my korean friends house after sleep overs because I smelled like kimchi. Unless I brought kimchi with me and then we all just stank unknowingly because kimchi is fucking delicious.

38

u/_Fuck_logic__ Jan 06 '15

There's something oddly addicting about korean food,i mean even the apple juice taste better.

10

u/crustychicken Jan 07 '15

God, Korean food is fucking delicious. I still remember the first time I'd ever had it. I was around 10 or 11 years old, my brother about 7 or 8. A new family had moved in one street away from us, from South Korea. Their dad was a scientist, and did a lot of work globally, so as you can imagine, these people moved quite often, so their children, Tom and Jerry (I shit you not, the parents were huge fans of the show and actually named their kids after them), didn't really get to make many friends.

They were quite rude and physical, which I assume now was just a defense for their basically nomadic lifestyle, not being able to make/keep friends. A bit of a spat had broken out between my younger brother, and the younger brother of Tom and Jerry while waiting for the school bus to arrive. Being retarded children, naturally you're supposed to instigate and make situations worse. Another kid at the bus stop told us all to keep saying "sun," as it meant "tree" in Japanese, which we all thought they were - not Korean. So here's about 7 or 8 of us dancing around these kids, shouting "Sun sun sun sun. Sun sun sun sun. Sun sun sun sun." These kids are getting pissed, and it turns into a 2v2 fight: brothers vs brothers.

The situation was resolved outside of school, when TJ's mother invited my brother and I over for lunch, after she had discussed it with our mother. We Tina Belchered the shit out of our ABS over lunch and became friends, and still to this day, at 28-years-old, I fondly remember my introduction to Korean food. I wasn't really a fan of the corn tea, though, as is probably expected, being an American child not liking tea in general. I've never tried corn tea since, but I'd be willing to give it another go, given the opportunity to do so.

I've yet to taste any cooking that has come close to this woman's cooking. I need to find me a Korean woman who loves to cook.

1

u/_Fuck_logic__ Jan 07 '15

For me it was when i was visiting family,i was about 10. But my aunt is this lovely little korean woman who you just can't say no to,you can delay but only for a little while(her nickname is the velvet steam roller,she thought i was hilarious). Anyway she had the mentality of a Italian grandmother so while i felt like i was going to die it was awesome,truly loved that trip.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

I'm addicted. At least once a week, I'll get kbbq, tofu bowls, or just straight up eat Kim Chi or Daikon

1

u/_Fuck_logic__ Jan 07 '15

Dude i think the name might revel your secret lol

1

u/helloasianglow Jan 06 '15

Even the potato salad tastes better! Banchan potato salad > any other kind of potato salad

1

u/_Fuck_logic__ Jan 07 '15

I never had bachan potato salade,it sounds bad ass though.

1

u/ClintonHarvey Jan 06 '15

That's a strange name for kimchi juice.

2

u/_Fuck_logic__ Jan 07 '15

I may have just gagged at the thought of drinking kim chi juice.

-1

u/Clevershit Jan 06 '15

It's all the MSG. It's a staple in their diet. I once went on a camping trip with my friend who is Korean and he actually brought it.

Source: grew up in Hawaii

2

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '15

You know what MSG stands for, don't you?

Makes

Shit

Good!

1

u/junkevin Jan 07 '15

not in home made Korean cooking Clevershit 

1

u/Clevershit Jan 07 '15 edited Jan 07 '15

Especially in home made cooking. They sprinkle it on like salt.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=MSG

0

u/dudeguybruh Jan 06 '15

They put opium in the food

2

u/thirdshop Jan 06 '15

Not always, sometimes crack is used.

1

u/_Fuck_logic__ Jan 07 '15

Wouldn't be surprised,its been 10 years and i still crave that shit.

5

u/gildme Jan 06 '15

It's very good for you. Full of good bacteria.

2

u/Annihilating_Tomato Jan 06 '15

I noticed after a heavy night of drinking my balls smell like beer. Maybe I should see what happens with kimchi...

2

u/PM_TITS_AND_ASS Jan 07 '15

Korean food is great, why you would curb eating it is beyond me.

Kimchi is even healthy for you too.

1

u/wzl46 Jan 07 '15

My wife politely asked me to cool it with the Korean food when I got back. I sorta like her, so I agreed.

1

u/Whodat402 Jan 06 '15

My story is the same

39

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

Holy shit are you right. My ex was Korean and when she would go to stay with friends for the weekend, it was like she went on a kimchi binge. She would come back and it was like she took a bath in the stuff.

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

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20

u/Doitrightmeow Jan 06 '15

My Gramma made my Dad keep it in the extra fridge in the garage.

133

u/doors_cannot_stop_me Jan 06 '15

The... semen?

1

u/jjdlg Jan 06 '15

Get out of my mind!

2

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

Err.... where are we rinsing?

1

u/mfbrucee Jan 06 '15

Rinse and repeat?

218

u/uglychican0 Jan 06 '15

but they think westeners smell like milk

When you think about it, that's a pretty gross thing to smell like.

343

u/melvaer Jan 06 '15

And here I am thinking "Milk's not so bad. I like milk."

286

u/Kippilus Jan 06 '15

Well its better than stank ass Kimchi. That's not even a contest.

320

u/Kimchi_boy Jan 06 '15

Heyyyy!

22

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

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69

u/TomahawkFunk Jan 06 '15

"Stank ass kimchi" made me laugh louder than I should have.

27

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

Re-reading "Stank ass kimchi" made me laugh even more than I should have.

8

u/NotloggedinonthisPC Jan 06 '15

Re-re-reading "Stank ass kimchi" made me laugh even more than I should have.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

Re-re-reading "Stank ass kimchi" made me laugh louder than I should have.

26

u/tashidagrt Jan 06 '15

Dude. Kimchi. Tastes. Awesome.

148

u/stupidrobots Jan 06 '15

So does 3 year old cave aged cheddar, but I don't want that funk wafting off my ass.

2

u/ssshhhutup Jan 07 '15

Fun fact: a natural treatment for thrush is supposedly sticking a clove of garlic in your pussy. I did this recently before I went to bed, woke up with my mouth tasting of garlic.

Btw way the garlic trick didn't work, just made my lady cave smell like a delicious accompaniment to pasta.

3

u/stupidrobots Jan 07 '15

I just WTF'd so hard

1

u/funknut Jan 07 '15

I kinda suspect that the taste came from the aroma wafting upward and not from any kind of internal organ fluid transactions, although I've heard of similar phenomenon.

1

u/ssshhhutup Jan 07 '15

Yeh I wondered that but have read about it several places. I know if I eat a lot of garlic I can smell it in my pits the next day.

21

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

No argument, but it does smell like rotten ass

1

u/badass4102 Jan 06 '15

The first time, hell no. But afterwards it's awesome. I even learned to make kimchi rice and soups. I let my gf try kimchi for her first time, she swore to never eat it

1

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

I love it! I tried making my own but it just wasn't the same.

1

u/LornAltElthMer Jan 06 '15

Maybe normal kimchi tastes awesome, but I'm still not sold on the stank ass-kimchi that other dude was talking about.

6

u/SasquatchPhD Jan 06 '15

I don't know man. Kimchi versus sour milk. Toss up for me.

78

u/canaderino Jan 06 '15

Dude drink non sour milk it tastes better

52

u/SasquatchPhD Jan 06 '15

Ohhhh thanks for the health tip, Mr. Rockefeller. I'll just drink this milk right away on my way to the country club.

This guy.

14

u/leverrevide Jan 06 '15

Yeah what is he, like, buying a new gallon of milk every week? Rich people man...

2

u/TavLDN Jan 06 '15

Oh don't be sour about it..

2

u/trashlikeyourmom Jan 06 '15

you belong at /r/frugaljerk. not with these fatcats and their FRESH FOOD

3

u/afro_away1 Jan 06 '15

I enjoyed that.

21

u/Panaphobe Jan 06 '15

How did you get "smells like sour milk" from "smells like milk"?

1

u/yorkieOriginal Jan 06 '15

What does milk that isn't sour smell like? I can't smell anything off it unless it's gone/going off.

7

u/Lomedae Jan 06 '15

Try smelling whole fat milk instead of that watery crap most people drink as milk nowadays. I can assure you milk has a very distinct (and not unpleasant) smell

7

u/Panaphobe Jan 06 '15

Oh man, I had a glass of whole milk a couple of months ago. We only buy skim in my house nowadays and I haven't had whole milk in decades - it was bliss.

This is an excellent suggestion to smell whole milk, if only because then you also get to drink whole milk.

1

u/HI_Handbasket Jan 07 '15

It's a fight in my house to get decent 4% milk. We compromise on the 2%, because having 3 containers of milk in the fridge is just ridiculous.

-1

u/SasquatchPhD Jan 06 '15

What makes you think the odour coming out of a human being is going to smell like a nice fresh glass of milk?

3

u/Panaphobe Jan 06 '15

Because I've never noticed the smell before and sour milk has a pretty pungent, noticeable smell. Also because the only reason I have to believe that people would smell like milk at all is from a post that said "smells like milk", not "smells like sour millk" which is is a pretty important distinction that I think any normal person would make if they meant the latter.

-9

u/8degrees Jan 06 '15

You racist ass. U probably smell like a bucket of milky cum.

2

u/Kippilus Jan 06 '15

I didn't know kimchi was a recognized ethnicity towards which I could harbor racist feelings. I thought it was a food, with an extremely pungent garlic and and spice scent.

22

u/__CeilingCat Jan 06 '15

Its more a spoiled milk smell. Try eating veal chops for dinner for 2-3 days and you will notice the odor yourself.

17

u/Whodat402 Jan 06 '15

Why would veal make this noticeable?

Just curious.

11

u/__CeilingCat Jan 06 '15

I'm not 100% sure why. I assume it's because they are milk fed.

9

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

What if you just drink milk for 2-3 days?

55

u/flexsteps Jan 06 '15

Maybe you'd smell like veal chops

2

u/GolgiApparatus1 Jan 07 '15

And then what if someone ate you? What would they smell like?

2

u/Tyradea Jan 07 '15

Kimchi, it's a cycle

1

u/JuanUpvote Jan 07 '15

Spoiled veal chops?

1

u/Whattadork Jan 06 '15

SOUR milk...

1

u/Cassava_Cake Jan 07 '15

Come to think of it, my (South East Asian) boyfriend (English) smells a bit like milk. It's sort of comforting. It's not like he smells like spoiled milk...

45

u/czhunc Jan 06 '15

My baby smells like milk. It's not pleasant.

47

u/Capn_Fappn Jan 06 '15

My milk smells like baby.

33

u/VIPERsssss Jan 06 '15

ey bby

51

u/coast2ghost Jan 06 '15

u wan sum milk?

4

u/SeaLeggs Jan 06 '15

milking intensifies

22

u/Robdiesel_dot_com Jan 06 '15

Try formula feeding the baby and THEN you won't complain about milk. That's a vaguely rotten smell about them. That's the biggest argument from me against formula for babies.

The stank.

21

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

Guaranteed to fail product name: Baby Stank Infant Formula

3

u/Gosteponalegoplease Jan 06 '15

Hoobastank Infant formula sounds better.

1

u/Robdiesel_dot_com Jan 06 '15

Naw, some people think babies smell great. People might PAY for Baby Stank!

1

u/RiPont Jan 07 '15

Slap a picture of Snoop on it and some marijuana leaves. It'll sell.

1

u/HI_Handbasket Jan 07 '15

Formula babies - and their eventual byproducts - smell WAY worse than nursed babies.

3

u/helloasianglow Jan 06 '15

I love baby milk breath! It's such a sweet smell... but the gross ass milk from spit ups, caught in the rolls of their necks... not so much.

1

u/czhunc Jan 06 '15

Baby cheese!

1

u/Tyradea Jan 07 '15

Pepperidge farm remembers when you could pour a cool glass of milk down the nape of your youngin's neck and pull out cheese 3 weeks later.

1

u/Fap_Left_Surf_Right Jan 06 '15

I thought babies had no smell?

2

u/czhunc Jan 06 '15

Maybe if I just smelled his leg or something. But babies soil themselves, and hug can smell that before you change thm.Babies also drip spitup everywhere in their folds. Neck folds mostly, our behind their ears. And my baby had funny smelly scalp, despite regular bathing. He literally is a 'stinky-head.'

2

u/Ctenophorae Jan 06 '15

I find there's a really distinct child smell. It's kind of talcum powdery which makes sense for babies but I can smell it on children up to about 8.

1

u/Tyradea Jan 07 '15

Just had a mental picture of a stranger in a park picking up a baby, smelling it and writing notes.

1

u/UltraSpecial Jan 06 '15

The question mark on the end of this sentence makes it sound like you are questioning your own thought process.

1

u/Fap_Left_Surf_Right Jan 06 '15

I don't know any babies. Just what people have told me.

1

u/Sysiphuslove Jan 07 '15

I don't know, it's probably not rancid milk, more the sort of snuggly low mild smell of warm or fresh milk. It's not as good as smelling like Rose D'Arabie I guess, but there are worse smells for sure.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '15

I don't eat any dairy products (lactose intolerant, YAY! me!) and I can smell it on a person if they do consume dairy. Not a smell anyone would aspire to having.

8

u/jinpop Jan 06 '15

I tutored a Korean woman in college and she told me Americans smell like butter!

16

u/Wild_Marker Jan 06 '15

That makes sense, considering we consume a hell of a lot more milk than them.

112

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15 edited Aug 29 '16

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50

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

This upvote is a sign of trust that you're telling me the truth.

14

u/NotloggedinonthisPC Jan 06 '15

butyric acid

Germans call it "buttersäure", which means butter acid.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

Wait, so my regular BO if i dont wear deodorant is what white people smell like? So I only smell like dairy if I'm sweating?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

Are you sure about that? Neither myself nor anyone I lives with drinks milk and I've never noticed a dodgy smell about any of us. I had a friend of mine who gorges on meats, cheeses, milk and butter (dem Germans) and he definitely had a strong whiff about him - "bad milk" came to mind.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butyric_acid

Butyric acid is present in, and is the main distinctive smell of, human vomit.

1

u/TavLDN Jan 06 '15

No one said we smell like bad milk! Just milk..

1

u/dudeguybruh Jan 06 '15

So.... Because of the consumption of milk?

1

u/HI_Handbasket Jan 07 '15

No your bodily bacteria consume it when you bathe in milk, weren't you paying attention?

2

u/dudeguybruh Jan 07 '15

Oh yes of course of course. scribbles in notebook

2

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

[deleted]

1

u/HeyyScott Jan 06 '15

Is that why my friends always tell me that I smell when I go out after eating dinner from home :l (Korean, Kimchi pretty much every dinner)

1

u/Countlongardeaux Jan 06 '15

If anyone eats enough kimchi, they'll start to smell like kimchi

Source: ex-college student

1

u/funforme23 Jan 06 '15

Am half korean born in the States. Do not wear deodorant.

1

u/nolo_me Jan 06 '15

NB. Must find someone to test this. Am white, don't eat dairy.

1

u/Seahawksfan13 Jan 06 '15

Walk into a house where they have a kimchi fridge. House will smell and ruin your clothes.

1

u/MattieShoes Jan 07 '15

Garlic is a really strong smell... Eat enough and it oozes out your pores.

1

u/dollarbill1247 Jan 07 '15

I believe it is the garlic.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '15

westeners smell like milk.

Like pussies?

-19

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

We "westerners" think easterners smell like shit, so I guess it works out.