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I once blogged about the lack of word for this smell[0], and came across someone else that has asked this[1] too. Just like 'petrichor' for the smell of fresh e
by hoyd 3y ago
I once blogged about the lack of word for this smell[0], and came across someone else that has asked this[1] too. Just like 'petrichor' for the smell of fresh earth following rain.
I made up my own word for this, in Norwegian: 'Gammelbokduft'.
[0] https://earth.hoyd.net/lukten-av-gamle-boker-118/ https://earth.hoyd.net/lukten-av-gamle-boker-118/
[1] http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/57416/word-for-the-smell-of-old-books http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/57416/word-for-th...
- pohuing 3y agoDoes that just translate to rotting book smell?
- logdahl 3y agoI would say it translates to old book smell
- hoyd 3y agoYes, that would be it. The word "gammel" means most of the times old, but I can see where it would be used as something rotten too.
- mjochim 3y agoIn Scandinavian languages, gammel or a similarly-spelled cognate means "old". I dont know about rare cases where it might mean "rotten", I dont speak any of them well enough. But in German, "gammeln"/"vergammelt" doesnt mean old. It means to rot/rotten.
- carlmr 3y agoNot Norwegian but sounds like it to me, a German. In any case in German this is exactly how you'd create a new word. Gammeln (rotting) + Buch (book) + Duft (scent). Then you have Gammelbuchduft. In French maybe you can make it parfum de livre.
- pohuing 3y agoYep also German that's why I had the thought :D