The power of smells - 6 Minute English

Neil: Hello welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil.

Dan: And I'm Dan.

Neil: In this programme, we going to hear

from someone who smells

smells for a living. Although these are

very expensive smells - smells

that we wear deliberately to make

us smell good.

Dan: Ah, you mean scents and perfumes?

Neil: Yes and perfumes are big business.

And that is the topic of our quiz in this programme.

How much is the perfume industry in the UK

worth each year?

a) £650 million

b) £970 million

c) £1.3 billion?

Dan: Well, I don't nose – smell, nose

- this is just a guess, but I’ll say £970 million.

Neil: Well, I’ll let you know the answer

a little later in the programme. Now let’s

hear from Roja Dove, who is a perfumer.

He designs and creates very exclusive and very

expensive perfumes. In a recent BBC

video he talked about the power of

smells. What does he say there is a very

deep psychological connection between?

Roja Dove: …who we are as a personality

and the type of smells we like. When we are

born, the part of our brain which deals with

smell is empty so we learn our response to smell.

And then when we smell that odorant

again it’s like a trigger or a catalyst

that will revive the original

associational memory.

Neil: So Dan, what does he say

there is avery deep psychological

connection between?

Dan: Between our personality and the kind

of smells we like. The point he is making

is that the smells we experience when we are

very young can have a big psychological impact

on us even later in life.

Neil: I know that feeling – smell is a very

powerful sense. The smell of something can

take you right back in time and fill you

with emotions.

Dan: Exactly. For example, when I walk

through the perfume area of a

department store I always

feel a bit nostalgic because I can smell

the perfume my first girlfriend

used to wear.

It’s a powerful sensation.

Neil: Dove used particular words and

expression to describe this, didn’t he?

Dan: Yes, first he used the word odorant

to describe the smell. It’s not really a common

word. We use it more frequently as part of

the word deodorant, which is something we

buy to cover up what we think of as the unpleasant

natural smell of our bodies. These odorants,

he said, can act as the trigger or catalyst

for these memories.

Both the nouns trigger

and catalyst refer to something that

causes a particular response. So a particular smell

can be a trigger or catalyst

for a particular emotion.

Neil: As well as being a trigger for

memories, smells can, according to Dove,

say a lot about

your personality. Here he is again talking

about the kind of scent to wear if you want

to give a particular impression. What

does he say these scents make you

appear very strong at?

Roja Dove: The idea of the message you

give off with scent I think can’t be underestimated.

My suggestion would be to look for very,

very woody, mossy, structured scents

called Chypres

if the message you want to put across is

that you are someone not to be messed with, very,

very strong in business, or whatever –

just not to be messed with.

Neil: So what do the scents he described

make you seem strong at?

Dan: Business, they can make you seem

very, very strong in business.

Neil: Mmm, and how does he explain that?

Dan: Well, he says that some scents give off

a particular message.

The phrasal verb give off is often used to

describe something that

we broadcast about ourselves without saying

anything. So he’s saying that our scent,

our perfume, can give off a message about

the kind of person we are and that we shouldn’t

underestimate that. If you underestimate something

you don’t give it as much importance as

it should have, you don’t

take it seriously enough.

Neil: He then goes on to talk about the

particular scent that gives off the

impression of being

very strong in business.

Dan: Yes, it’s a woody, mossy scent which

suggests that you are

not someone to be messed with.

Neil: Not to be messed with?

Dan: Yes – someone to be taken seriously,

someone who is serious who you don’t want

to try and trick.

Neil: Right and talking of tricking – did

we trick you with the quiz? I asked - What

was the value of the perfume industry

in the UK?

Dan: And I said it was £970 million.

Neil: And it was actually option c), which

was an incredible £1.3 billion.

Dan: Wow! That is a lot of smelly stuff.

Neil: It is indeed! Right, now, time for

vocabulary recap. What words and

expressions did we have

today?

Dan: Well, first we had odorant – an

unusual word for something that smells.

Neil: Then two words with a very similar meaning:

a trigger and a catalyst – both of which

refer to something that can make something

else happen. In this case it was a particular

smell making us remember something from the

past. So scents can sends us to the past.

But they can also say something about

our personality.

Dan: Yes, they can send unspoken information

- or give off messages. And these messages

should not be underestimated. If you do underestimate

the importance of smell, it means that you

don’t take those messages seriously.

Neil: And finally we heard the phrase to mess

with someone. To mess with someone means that

you don’t take them seriously, you cause

them trouble and that may cause you trouble.

Dan: Well I certainly wouldn’t want to mess

with you! Judging by the messages you’re

giving off.

Neil: Ah you mean my aftershave? Makes me

seem powerful?

Dan: Actually, I was thinking more of the egg sandwich

you had for lunch. I really wouldn’t underestimate

the power of that.

Neil: Ah! On that note, I think it’s time

to end the programme. For more, find us on

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and of course our website bbclearningenglish.com!

Goodbye!

Dan: Goodbye!