It’s been a while since posting an entry from my husband’s smell dictionary so I’d thought I’d post a fun one: Fingernail Gunk! Personally, as someone with congenital anosmia, I had no idea that the gunk under fingernails could have an odor. It always amuses me when the things I think should smell don’t and then the things I assume don’t smell do.

So here it is, Alan’s description of fingernail gunk:

FINGERNAIL GUNK ~ When you clean your fingernails (or when anyone else cleans
their fingernails, for that matter) the gunk that gets scraped out has a dark brown smell, like the scuff on a shoe. It’s somewhat musty, and very faint, but nonetheless present, and simply passes through, not lingering at all. It’s like a man out on parole, absconding from somewhere it knew it wasn’t supposed to be in the first place–-a very cowardly, self-preserving scent with a flannel texture. Oh, and incidentally, fingernail gunk really isn’t the official name. But it is the most fun. Level of Intensity: 2 (7-30-03)

So, what do you olfies think? Is his description of “fingernail gunk” fair?