文︰子慧
Fragrance(香味)，通常用来比喻好的东西，没有人会反对流芳百世，但没有人想遗臭万年。英文也有与香和臭有关的措辞，例如smelling like a rose，像玫瑰一样香，就解to be regarded as appealing(有吸引力的), virtuous(品德高尚的) or respectable(可敬的)。
Smelling like a rose亦解to have people believe that you are good and honest after a difficult situation that could have made you seem bad or dishonest；一些可以令你身败名裂的情况过后，大家了解到你原来是正直不阿的人，就可以用smelling like a rose来形容。例如︰When the corruption investigation was over, the official came out smelling like a rose.(贪污的调查完成后，证明那位官员一清二白。)
Stink解有臭味，例如︰The classroom stinks of rotten food.(班房有种食物腐烂了的臭味。)Stink亦解令人有某种负面的怀疑，例如︰This report stinks of a cover-up.(这报告有掩盖真相之嫌。)Stink也指令人嫌恶、糟糕极，例如︰The situation stinks!(情况糟透了！)
香水情意结
“好香恶臭”是人之常情，怪不得perfume(香水)那么贵，小小的一瓶可卖几百、几千或甚至几万元。有一种香水竟然可卖一百万美元一瓶，贵得令人瞠目结舌。畅销小说作家Kate Grenville就忆述她自小对perfume是如何喜爱：
When I was little my mother had a tiny, precious(珍贵的) bottle of perfume on her dressing table and on special occasions she’d put a dab(轻涂) behind her ears. The smell of Arpege(由Lanvin出品的一种经典香水) was always linked in my mind with excitement and pleasure – Mum with her hair done, wearing her best dress and her pearls, off for a night out with Dad.
当她长大了，有自己的“特别场合”时，她也会用点香水。她觉得不只香水本身，连它们的装潢、瓶子、名字，都是那么令人神往：
Later, old enough to have my own special occasions, I also had my favorite perfume. I loved the bottles: those sensuous(性感的、令人着迷的) shapes. I loved the names and the labels, so evocative(唤起记忆的) of all things glamorous(令人向往的). Above all, I loved what they promised: elegance(优雅), beauty, poise(优雅的仪态) and – of course – desire.
有不良反应
她写了有关香味的书，但不是香水颂，而是The Case Against Fragrance，香味之患。她不但对香水失去兴趣，还对大部分人造香味都避之则吉，因为她察觉到每次出席衣香鬓影的场合时，都会头痛，原来她的身体对香水或香精的味有不良反应。
除了香水，她也不喜欢市面上林林总总产品的香味，例如洗头水、化妆品、润肤膏、家居清洁用的化学产品等。她的调查亦发现一个令人忧虑的情况：
The chemicals in fragrance can be linked not only to short-term problems like headaches and asthma(哮喘), but to long-term ones like hormone disruption(荷尔蒙失调) and cancer. Yet products can be released onto the market without testing. They’re regulated only by the same people who make and sell them. And the ingredients(原料) don’t even have to be named on the label.
