What Is The Bad Smell I'm Encountering So Much Lately?

[AndiFlatland]

I didn't really know where to put this one, so this'll have to do.

I wonder if anybody else has noticed this, and winced at it, like I do.

For the last few years, I've been increasingly noticing a very unpleasant smell that more and more people seem to be trailing around, whether in shops, public buildings or in the street. It's hard to describe, but I would say it's a sort of sour, rancid aroma that suggests poor hygiene. It seems to be primarily, though not exclusively associated with black, African and Asian people, but also seems to be related to some white people of what I would term a 'gipsy-ish' persuasion, and people with eccentric dress sense and hairstyles (without wishing to be derogatory to any of those people). Some of them don't seem to have had a good wash for weeks - indeed, only a couple of months ago, an Indian chap moved into the flat adjoining mine, and I hear what he does when he gets up in the morning, and comes home in the evening. While he looks smart and clean, I don't recall that I have ever heard him use his shower or obviously having a wash, and that same smell is beginning to emanate from his flat and permeate the house.

The worst of it is, you really can't just go up to people in the supermarket or the library, and say 'What is that awful smell? I think it's about time you had a good bath', can you?! But sometimes it is so pungent it makes me gag, and I have to get away from it as quick as possible. I may not sometimes be the freshest-smelling person around, and frequently go without a shower for 4 or 5 days - but I don't think I ever smell like that!

Any ideas or suggestions as to what it might be? Have you noticed it too?

[Tilly2]

This thread is still making me seethe although it hasn't turned into the type of thread Andi wanted it to. Well done ABers. :-)