People who don't use fragrances-- and plenty who do-- often say that something smells "too strong." This is invariably a derogatory term. And you hear this a lot! Heck, someone has a thread posted in the Shaving Creams forum about how his girlfriend has nixed TOBS Sandalwood because it's "too strong."
But the thing is, TOBS Sandalwood Cream isn't strong! It's fairly light, I'd say. And it's hardly something that will stink up a room...
So I'm wondering what on earth people mean by this. Because it's clearly not a judgment of the power of the scent (in the sense of how smelly it is relative to other smells). It's a judgment of the way something smells; the content of the smell rather than its magnitude.
Is "that's too strong" just the equivalent of "I don't like that"? Or is there some other substantive content that I'm missing? In other words, is this poor henpecked fellow's girlfriend just saying "I dislike the smell of TOBS Sandalwood," or is there a specific thing that people understand themselves to mean when they say that a scent is strong?
But the thing is, TOBS Sandalwood Cream isn't strong! It's fairly light, I'd say. And it's hardly something that will stink up a room...
So I'm wondering what on earth people mean by this. Because it's clearly not a judgment of the power of the scent (in the sense of how smelly it is relative to other smells). It's a judgment of the way something smells; the content of the smell rather than its magnitude.
Is "that's too strong" just the equivalent of "I don't like that"? Or is there some other substantive content that I'm missing? In other words, is this poor henpecked fellow's girlfriend just saying "I dislike the smell of TOBS Sandalwood," or is there a specific thing that people understand themselves to mean when they say that a scent is strong?