the.com/pungent
the smell that arrives before you do and lingers after you leave
means Sharp and intense to the nose or tongue — a smell or taste forceful enough to sting your senses — and by extension, biting or piercing in wit or expression.
from From Latin 'pungere,' to prick or pierce — the same root that jabs through 'puncture,' 'point,' and 'poignant.' The Romans imagined a sharp smell as something that physically stabs the nose, and the metaphor stuck: a pungent remark, like a pungent cheese, gets right under your skin.
- latin root
- From pungere, meaning to prick or pierce
- physical jab
- Capsaicin and mustard hit pain nerves, not taste
- durian ban
- Banned from hotels and transit across Southeast Asia
- survival signal
- Sharp odors once warned ancestors of rot and poison
durian fruit — southeast asian fruit banned from public transport in singapore, malaysia, thailand for its overpowering sulfurous smell
limburger cheese — belgian-german washed-rind cheese with isovaleric acid that produces a smell comparable to foot odor