Re: CHAT: various infotaining natlang tidbits

Roger Mills wrote:

>Jonathan Chang wrote:
>>    Incidently, hardcore Cantonese see European-types as being similarly
>>monstrous - not just cuz of body hair, facial hair, large size/girth, &
>body
>>odour (due to eating horrendous amounts of red meat) >>
>
>That's an interesting fact, confirmed by personal experience (I wonder if
>there's anything scientific to back it up?)--  maybe the absence of dairy,
>butter, wheat etc. has something to do with it too.
I don't know if this is true, but I read somewhere that Asians
generally lack the gene(s) for body odour. In any case, a lot of
asians lack the gene(s) for lactose absorption. If milk consumption
contributes to body odor, then that may explain it. But that
would make it difficult to explain why babies smell so nice.

-kristian- 8)