[S. May]

Does anyone know where the statement ‘White people smell like bologna’ originated? I know it is similar to the title of the book ‘Why Do White People Smell Like Wet Dogs When They Come Out of The Rain,’ but why bologna? A recent beer commercial makes reference to it.

User Detail :  

Name : S. May, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 38, City : Toronto, Ontario, State : NA, Country : Canada, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Brian]

Come to think of it, I’ve noticed that (being white myself). White people do have a ‘lunchmeat’ smell to their body odor when they haven’t bathed or are sweating heavily. When I’m in the gym with black friends, the difference in smell is noticeable.

User Detail :  

Name : Brian, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 26, City : Peru, State : IN, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Bumpy]

I don’t know the name of it, but there was a movie in the late ’90s that was a fairly big release. Marlon Wayans’ character was getting interrogated by the police, and he broke out with that line. I laughed my ass off for days.

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Name : Bumpy, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Laura]

I personally have never noticed the bologna smell, although I can say that I have smelled some people (all races) that should aspire to smell that good!

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Name : Laura, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 24, City : Small Town, State : AZ, Country : United States, Occupation : Bartender, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Dave L.]

While I can’t say I’ve ever noticed a difference or even looked for a difference in body odor, I would say it most likely has to do with diet. For instance, Italians (of which I’m one) have a tendency to smell like garlic because there is a lot of garlic in our food. Because people of a particular race have a tendency to eat foods of similar types and recipes, I would think this would create the difference in smell.

User Detail :  

Name : Dave L., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 31, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : Information Technology, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Middle class, 

[Keith]

Wow I’ve noticed that smell myself. In the brief time I lived in Vancouver, Canada, I never said anything about it in fear of sounding racist.

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Name : Keith, Gender : M, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, 

[Wisdom43]

Dogs after a shower, yes. I’m not sure about bologna – perhaps it’s more accurate to say garlic. I’ve smelled that from many older white people. But different noses smell different things…

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Name : Wisdom43, City : Omaha, State : NE, Country : United States, 

[Lady-L]

It’s not bologna, it’s a vegetable soup smell. Yuck!

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Name : Lady-L, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Seattle, State : WA, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Butterfly]

I do think that body smell has much to do with the diet. Personnally, when travelling the backpacker way, my own odor changes after a few weeks on local low-meat/high-cheese diet. My sweat changes its usual smell to a sour smell, like old yogurt. It disturbs me until I get back to my usual high-meat diet. My traveller friends do not notice this and laugh at my ‘nosal illusions’.

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Name : Butterfly, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 30, City : Liege, State : NA, Country : Belgium, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class, 

[Pauly B.]

The crack about white people smelling like wet dog came from the movie Roots. The phrase morphed into smelling like bologna to attempt to give the speaker a sense of originality.

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Name : Pauly B., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Irish, Religion : Deist, Age : 37, City : Denver, State : CO, Country : United States, Occupation : CAD Tech, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Cedric]

I never noticed that whites have a smell but I’m not close to many, either. I do know that blacks have a smell that’s a mixture of urine, feces and some kind of animal that I can’t seem to place. I notice this smell from other blacks when they sweat and if they don’t bathe, sometimes though I notice some blacks have this smell even after they bathe and they’re not sweating. Does anyone know why this is? Genetics? Something is their diets?

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Name : Cedric, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Muslim, Age : 28, City : Jersey City, State : NJ, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[will]

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Name : will, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 14, City : central square, State : NY, Country : United States, 

[JacksonP]

The differences in Body Odour and Ethnicity is actually related to the Apocrine Sweat Gland: “East Asians have fewer apocrine sweat glands compared to people of European or African descent, and it may be for this reason that they are less prone to body odor.[2]” – Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocrine_sweat_gland

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Name : JacksonP, Gender : Male, City : Montreal, State : NA, Country : Canada, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

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