Boysmell

About

Boysmell is a slang term referring to a young man's odor, which has been celebrated online, particularly by the trans community. The term has been the subject of several notable posts, including a viral copypasta that has been reproduced and voiced online numerous times in various memes or comment sections.

Origin

There are several definitions of what constitutes "boysmell" on Urban Dictionary, ^[1] though most do not have positive connotations. The positive association with "boy smell" appears to have started around 2017. On July 22nd, 2017, an anonymous 4chan user on the /lgbt/ board^[2] started a thread on "boysmell" as one of the earliest known references to the slang term (shown below).

Spread

On December 19th, 2020, several anons posted about "boysmell," including pictures of anime girls, frequently Kurumi Nanase (Kurumi-chan) with their posts. A fourth anon responded, "this is the worst fucking board," resulting in a screenshot that was widely reposted on social media^[3] (shown below).

The most notable meme to emerge from the concept of "boysmell" also originated on 4chan. On October 4th, 2021, an anonymous user made a post expressing their appreciation for "boysmell" with cutesy language (shown below).

*sniff* *sniff*
i-is that a BOY I smell?
*sniff* *sniff*
mmm yes I smell it! BOYSMELL!!!! I smell a boy! W-What is a boy doing here?!?! omygosh what am I gonna do?!?! THERE'S A BOY HERE! I'M FREAKING OUT SO MUCH!!!! calm down calm down and take a nice, deep breathe….
*sniff* *sniff*
it smells so good! I love boysmell so much!!!! It makes me feel so amazing. I'm getting tingles all over from the delicious boyscent! It's driving me boyCRAZY!!!!!!
if u are a boy and u are reading this, I just wanted to say hiiiii cute boy!!!! I love you!

The copypasta became widely read by VTubers on YouTube and Twitch in the following years. On June 14th, 2022, the YouTube channel Numi Clips posted a clip of VTuber Numi reading the copypasta, gaining over 48,000 views in eight months (shown below, left). On January 15th, 2023, the YouTube account Ninja Shark Clips posted a similar clip of VTuber Ninja Shark reading the copypasta, gaining over 160,000 views in one month (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References