What is a good way to tell somebody they stink without hurting their feelings?On 03.16.10, In article
I don’t wanna hear the usual buy them a gift basket or tell them 2 try a new perfume or something. Some really nice stuff. Leave a Comment12 Responses to “What is a good way to tell somebody they stink without hurting their feelings?”Leave a Reply |
Persian 
French 
Bulgarian 
German 
Spanish 
English
Russian 
Portuguese 
Norwegian 
There is no "good" way. But, you can slip it in the conversation with this person.
Something like: "……….you know, don’t you find it obnoxious that some people do not use deodarant or (do they brush their teeth, or did they take shower or something that bothers you). I wonder what you will do if you meet such a person……? Geesh, some people lack societal norms………" and leave it at that.
I bet you bottom dollar that after you move away from that person, he/she will be checking their underarm odor or their breath or whatever you told them.
Anonymous letter.
ok this is what u can do if they r not a relative maybe a boy u like or something put one of ur friends boy or girl to tell that person that u like people that always smell good and other stuff just for that person to understand not only breath so he doesnt get hurt or something hope i helped
If your with them and they smell unpleasent,just whip out the deodrant,use some then offer them some,saying,it’s really nice.
Or just ask them what deodrant they wear and go out and buy some of it,if tey se you using it a lot then they will be encouraged.
Well if it’s someone at school you can ask the school nurse talk to them so you don’t have to tell them…If its one of your really good friends just tell them you helping them by saying something!
If you are close to this person (he or she is a good friend or relative), take them aside and gently, but firmly tell them the truth. "I’m trying to be a friend, and I don’t want to offend you, but I’ve noticed that you have strong body odor." You might also go on to ask them if they’ve made any recent dietary changes or if they’ve been ill (some diabetics can give off a strong, unusual odor).
If the person is still listening and this point, ask about their personal hygiene habits, and make some helpful recommendations.
DO NOT do this in front of other people, or gossip about it afterwards. This is a delicate problem, and should be handled as such.
Love & Blessings
An anonymous letter is NOT the way to go. The person who recieves it will spend a lifetime wondering who sent it to them. Seriously, don’t do that. Please.
If this is a close friend, use humor. When she gets in the car with you, for instance, say, "Phew….wow, did you forget to shower?" and just laugh. Or smell your own armpits and say, "well, I thought maybe I stunk but I don’t so it must be you." Or…"I smell (whatever)….Is that me or is it you?" If it is the clothing…..just say, "Come here……..(then smell the clothing)…..OMG that smells funky! Seriously…you need to wash that."
Don’t make a big deal out of it. Jut lay it out there. Laugh it off. Then move on.
If it is not a good friend….then leave it be. If it is a co-worker, speak to the boss and let them handle it.
This is one of those areas where there is simply no way to relay the message without the person either being embarrassed or offended. Sorry. Touchy subject.
maybe if your at a place where there could be a lot of smells, like a kitchen or a gym or just a crowded area of people (who are not listening to your conversation) then you could say out loud, "ew whats that smell? is it me?" *smell your armpits* "no not me, i don’t know what that smell is" or something of that sort. then your friend might smell themselves because you did and then realize its them and fix the problem (they may or may not say out loud that its them that smells)
you could also take out your perfume to spray yourself, ask them if they want some (they most likely will say something like "sure") and then you spray them and they like it & you tell them what it is and suggest it
maybe you could go shopping with them and tell them that you want to stop by the perfumes and they could try some out with you and they would end up buying some themselves.
as others have told you there really is no way to tell someone their body odor offends. An anonymous letter lets you off the hook personally but will make them wonder if it’s true or is somebody just trying to hurt their feelings.
A friend of mine did this to a mutual friend. When the friend walked up/got into the car (whatever) my friend looked at them, wrinkled her nose and said "I think you stepped in some dog doo." Of course there was none on the bottom of her shoe but it did let her know that there was an unpleasant odor associated her arrival. From that point on my friend says this woman never stunk again.
Depends on your relationship to the stinker. If he/she is a close friend or relative, just call him/her over to have a private talk ("Joe, can you come over here for a sec?") and quietly mention that you wouldn’t bring this up unless it was really extreme and if you are affected, everyone else must be too: he/she really needs a shower. If he/she is at your house and you’re all going to be there for a while, or if you all are going out together (in other words, that person is not going home real soon), you might want to offer the use of your bathroom for him/her to take a quick wash. If you’re somewhere like a restaurant, you might want to suggest he/she go to the bathroom and do a quick wipedown (if she’s a female, ask her to come with you to the bathroom and whisper that she really needs to use some soap and water to wipe herself off to cut down on her scent–she can toss the used papertowels in the sanitary napkin receptical and you can keep handing her damp papertowels over the stall door). It’s not all that different from telling a friend that his zipper is open or her skirt is tucked into her pantyhose.
There isn’t a nice way to tell someone that they stink. They will still get their feelings hurt no matter how nice you are about it.