To want to throttle DH when he says this?

[BenedictsCumberbitch]

and he's got the kids doing it too!

Tonight I picked DH up from the train, he got in the car, wrinkled his nose and said 'it stinks in here' with a vague air of disgust. I ask what kind of 'stink' thinking it might be bum toddler with potent nappies my breath as I had garlic in my lunch or some other vile smell, surreptitiously I sniffed myself for evidence of BO etc. He leans over and sniffs my hair and says 'did you wash your hair just before?' um 'yep' he nods 'yeah that's it'.

Stinks?? Of shampoo and conditioner and nice freshness? Stinks?? Could he not say that he can smell something nice/fresh/clean?

He does it when I have washing in the tumble dryer or on the radiator etc 'the house stinks' giving me the fear that there is something under the floorboards. When I probe further it's the smell of clean washing/air freshener he objects to.

DD is the same, hand her clean clothes 'Urgh mam they stink' I give them a sniff 'of clean washing??'.

Do their noses not work like mine???

Well, sound as though he's being rude or 'funny' or doesn't know what the word means. Stink is definitely a very unpleasant or offensive smell, not a good one. Perhaps you could find some of those old Readers' Digest columns 'it pays to increase your word power' and leave them lying around for him to find?

I'd class detergent and 'fresheners' as stinks. I once made DH get up in the middle of the night so I could change the sheets, they had been washed using a Persil sample and the smell was making me ill. 'Fresheners' are even worse. So under the 'offensive or unpleasant smells' definition they count as stink for me.

Some shampoos and gels do too - any of the Dove showergels, any of the 'man' smells, yeuch.

I find air fresheners properly stinky too but nothing the OP has said has suggested her DH has a particularly sensitive sense of smell. He uses the same
products he claims stink on her.

I think a lot of people here are telling us about themselves, which collectively tells us something about the prevalence of sensitivity to smells but not necessarily anything about he OP's DH.

Do you think he actually doesn't know the correct definition of "stink"?

I don't know him, so, as above, have no idea if he is being rude, 'funny' or really thinks it isn't insulting.

YANBU OP, I love the smell of lovely freshly washed clothes with lots of Comfort Pure fabric conditioner to make them all soft and fluffy.

And who doesn't like the smell of freshly washed hair? I love to sniff DS after his bath, he smells of baby shampoo and baby lotion, completely lush.

but whatever the reason, extending his vocabulary could really pay, by making the OP happier and potentially saving himself from being throttled!