How Would You "Politely" Tell Someone They Smell Bad?

Question

Ok, yeah right ... this type of question seems like the type of question ol' Bridgette should have an answer for right?

Wrong, lol. I have absolutely no idea how to tell my best friends brother that he smells so bad all the time. I'm telling you - hes so nice but smells like balls/armpit sweat.

He is the nicest guy you could meet, probably the nicest guy (outside of my boyfriend) that I've ever met. He's a loud mouth, beer drinking, riding motorcycle having fun type of guy, you know? And the worst part is that "he ain't that bad looking either", lol. He just stinks all the time. And to make matters worst, I swear he wears the same jeans everyday.

Advice?

Answer 1

Maybe it would be better coming from his sister?  Have you talked to her about it?  If she is unwilling maybe you could casually mention all those new body washes they have for men.  Maybe say something about how your boyfriend uses them and you think they smell really good.  Other than that just be really upfront and tell him he needs to shower more and wash his clothes.  Unless of course it is due to a medical condition, but I'm sure his sister would have told you that?  It's an uncomfortable situation, but it's nice that you care enough to tell him.

Answer 2

Well maybe he just needs some more pairs of jeans. I think a fix to his problem might be the prospects of a date.

Answer 3

make him a gift basket with hygiene items in it.

Answer 4

You could get some of your friends to start talking about perfume and then move the conversation to guys cologne....and deoderant

Answer 5

Tell your best friend and she or he can tell him. It's better to hear it from family. Or you can approach him, take him aside and say I don't know how to say this to you. I don't want you to take it the wrong way or feel embarrassed. I think you need to rethink your hygiene habits because you give off an unpleasant odor. Or maybe it's a medical problem. I just wanted to bring it to your attention because I care about you and want you to know so you can do something about it if it bothers you.  

Answer 6

just  tell   he  need  help

Answer 7

Just buy him a deodorant - if he says 'you saying I stink' you say 'yeah actually sometimes you do a bit'.

Answer 8

I think you need to let your friend or another of his family members take care of this one.  If you are close to him like that, you just need to sit down with him, alone so he doesn't get embarrassed, and just be straight, but nice.  Say you think he's a nice guy, some of your mutual friends think he's cute, but there seems to be a smell that turns people off, maybe he wants to work on that.  If he wears the same clothes, it may be that his clothing is dirty, so he should wash them more.  You can just sit and brain storm with him on things he can do to correct it, but make sure you don't act disgusted or put him down or joke too much at his expense (I'm sure you wouldn't, I'm just saying).

Answer 9

Tell him you need to buy deodorant and ask if he needs any. And when he says no do it anyway and pretend you didn't hear.

Answer 10

Sneak some soap and deod into his backback, room, something.  I'd just sit him down and tell him all the nice things about him and then tell him the truth.  It is a fact that people can become immune to their B.O. so he may be unaware.

Answer 11

Easy. Tell your friend to tell her brother to go wash his a--!

Answer 12

I've been known to say something like 'Do you smell that? Something smells like butt" when talking to the person in question...and then lead them into sniffing around until they realize that it's them.

I agree that some people can become immune to their stench, but also, those people can also be allergic to most soaps and deodorant (I know someone who is) and so they can't help but get smelly because they break out when they use deodorant.

If you're close to the guy, just sit him down and tell him plain and simple that "I'm sure you haven't realized, but sometimes you get a little ripe, and I wanted to tell you myself since I care about you rather than you be embarrassed by someone later"

Answer 13

there really is no polite way to do this-i would advise having a guy tell him-another guy can get away with just saying, "dude-how about a little deodorant next time-you're killing me here".

Answer 14

Tell your best friend, he is your best friends brother right! Tell her/him that their sibling is so cute, he is funny, he is the nicest guy...but " I don't know if he realizes that his deodorant is not working"....or that he would be so attractive...but...he should shower and wear deodorant if he wants to really impress the girls.  What can I say, you can sugar coat it, but somebody needs to tell him.