Re: Words for smells

[gmail header warning]

Given that the two senses are fairly related, it might be worth it to
look into how tastes are classified
(http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/T/Taste.html).
 Also, it may be worth while to look into references related to the
fragrance industry -- don't they employ professional smellers?  There
must be a jargon associated with it.

-Andy.

On Apr 8, 2005 9:58 AM, Sally Caves <scaves@...> wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Geoff Horswood" <geoffhorswood@...>
>
> > Another consequence of a subterranean existence...
> >
> > Odours are rather more significant to the Noygooros
> > (lit. "Underworld.people") orcs as a means of recognition and even getting
> > around in the dark.
> > I'm thinking about trying to group odours into a spectrum or array of some
> > form similar to what people do with colours.  I mean, there are a large
> > number of different shades that can all be lumped together as "blue"-
> > cobalt, royal, sky blue, turquoise, denim, and so on.
> >
> > Can you do this with odours?  What odours would you use as the "cardinal
> > odours"- the categories like blue, red, green and so on that can be broken
> > into different shades?
> >
> > Help!  I feel like I've let my imagination take a leap that my logic can't
> > keep up with!
> >
> > Geoff
>
> Wesley and Barry have made suggestions I would have thought of, too:
>
> Carnal smells-- meat to be eaten, not to be eaten, corpses
>     Could fall into several categories: appetizing, irritating, repulsive
> Sexual smells-- female, male, orkish, other
>     Could induce desire, aggression, jealousy, danger
> Natural smells--earth, water, air, stalk, leaf, root, fungi
>     Could induce comfort, thirst, feelings of energy
> Mineral smells-- granite, quartz, gold, fool's gold, etc.
>     Could induce a sense of industry, curiosity, greed, calculation
>
> Just some thoughts!
> Sally
>