Etymology

boysmell

boy·smell
B3O1Y4S1M3E1L1L1

Today it means: A boy or man's body odour, often regarded as attractive. Full definition →

English smell ← Middle English smellen ← Old English *smiellan
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰā-
  2. Proto-Germanic*bō-
  3. Proto-West Germanic*bōjō
  4. Old English*bōia
  5. Middle Englishboye
  6. Englishboy
  7. Proto-Indo-European*smel-
  8. Proto-West Germanic*smalljan
  9. Old English*smiellan
  10. Middle Englishsmellen
  11. Englishsmell
  12. English todayboysmell

Compound of boy + smell. Popularized as an Internet meme by a post on 4chan, published 19 December 2020 and widely shared on social media.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.