Smells

[Mellie]

What's the difference between scent and odour?

[woofgang]

I thnink that they are different words for the same thing, like "foot" and "pedal extremity"

[IndieSinger]

I would say that you would usually use scent for a nice smell and odour for a nasty smell. For example, you would talk about the sweet, heady scent of her perfume but the rancid, cheesy odour of his feet.

[kr123]

indie is right, scent denotes a pleastant aroma, whereas odour suggests an unpleasant one.

[Ewood27]

"Scent" can be a verb as well as a noun.  There are also conventional uses of one word or the other - "the odour of sanctity", hounds following a scent or scenting their quarry, and the metaphorical use of "being in bad odour".

[woofgang]

well yes but you might talk about "the odour of pine trees" Indie I reckon part of the difference, as well as the noun/ verb thing, in "literature" at least, is whether a one or two syllable word fits the rhythm of the writing.

(seems to be my day for useing quote marks)

[IndieSinger]

But still, the odour of pine trees still slightly suggests to me that the speaker wasn't too keen on it. The scent of the pine trees however...