8

Some fish such as blue fish have a kind of strong smell. What words (noun, adjective, etc) can describe specifically this kind of fish smell? Stench seems to mean any smell that is unpleasant.

RegDwigнt
  • 97,231
Tim
  • 9,993
  • 2
    IMHO fresh fish don't normally smell very strong. But dead fish exposed to air oxidise much faster than land-based animals, producing a characteristic unpleasant ammonia-like smell. Eat too much of that and you might well be ill, which I think is why we've evolved to find it unpleasant. Language came much later, but for the same reason we use the word "fishy" for "something you should probably avoid". – FumbleFingers Oct 31 '11 at 17:01
  • 7
    -1 I am alone in thinking that this question: How do fish smell? with 19 upvotes for the obvious answer Fishy! makes the site look just a little bit silly? – z7sg Ѫ Nov 01 '11 at 02:00
  • To the OP: all the answers seem to be about rotten fish. Is that what you wanted? – slim Jan 03 '12 at 20:20
  • 1
    @slim: I didn't suppose the fish already rotten. – Tim Jan 03 '12 at 21:08

5 Answers5

24

I would use the adjective "fishy," actually. The smell of fish is pretty universally known, and that's what we say. One can even say that other things smell fishy.

Brendon
  • 4,245
  • 1
    +1. There are lots of wonderful English words for strong smells. But where fish is concerned, if you use this one everyone will immediately know just what you mean. – T.E.D. Oct 31 '11 at 15:37
  • 4
    The trouble is, if you say something smells "fishy" you run the risk of having people think it's not above board, since the alternate meaning is that something is underhanded or dishonest. Context would likely make that clear, but there could be some overlap: "I smell something fishy in the kitchen" could mean fish is cooking or that the chef is dishonest. Or both. Ain't English fun? – Robusto Oct 31 '11 at 16:42
  • 1
    @Robusto初夢: I knew about the word fishy, but I avoid using it in this situation, just because of its overwhelming metaphoric meaning as you pointed out. "Ain't English fun?" yes and no. – Tim Oct 31 '11 at 17:30
  • 1
    Alternatively, you could say that there is a fishy smell, in which case you avoid the idiomatic meaning. – zpletan Nov 01 '11 at 02:05
  • @zpletan: Thanks! What differences are between idiomatic and metaphoric? – Tim Nov 01 '11 at 02:27
  • I would say that something smelling fishy is a metaphor that has become idiomatic. But maybe I'm wrong. :) Metaphor is "a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable," while idiom is "a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words." (New Oxford English Dictionary) – zpletan Nov 01 '11 at 12:37
6

You could use one of the following words: foul, noxious, putrid, rank, or reeking.

apaderno
  • 59,185
user14368
  • 362
  • Did he specify rotten fish? Fresh fish doesn't smell foul, noxious, putrid, rank or reeking. – slim Jan 03 '12 at 20:19
4

The smell of fish comes from a similar process as the smell of urine - the breaking down of amines.

So you could call the smell

Matt E. Эллен
  • 29,137
3

I find acrid a useful adjective, though in my mind, that can also mean smoky.

waiwai933
  • 14,563
pully6
  • 207
0

I'd personally use the word "rancid" for such smells.

Aminic and ammoniacal aren't really words, though?

E.Groeg
  • 1,586