Aleksandra
What is the difference between smell and odor?
Mar 13, 2020 12:48 PM
Answers · 2
In American English people tend to use smell 90% of the time. "you smell nice/bad", "it smells bad in here", "something smells fishy"
March 13, 2020
I don't think there is a strict difference, but an odour tends to be not as strong as a smell. We would also tend to use 'odour' more if the smell were pleasant and more likely to use 'smell' if unpleasant, but often it is just a stylistic choice, indeed we do sometimes talk about nasty odours or nice smells.
March 13, 2020
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