Nose blind

[PersephonePomegranate23]

I've seen this so many times and it really pisses me off!

To be fair, before Covid I did not know the term 'anosmia' but surely we have all heard this so many times now? Surely people understand that blindness refers to a specific sense and isn't interchangeable!

I've just read something even worse: noise blind. WTF? What's wrong with deaf?!

I'm a pedant, but I don't mind the expression 'nose blind' . I've never heard the word 'amnosia' and I think it would sound like a disability if anyone said they had/suffered from it .

'Noise blind' is different. To me, it seems belittling.

Nose blindness and amnosia are two different things.

Amnosia is a medical term for the loss of the sense of smell. I had this in December 2019 and it was very disconcerting - I missed a foul dirty nappy in my one year old for example.

Nose blindness is a colloquial term for becoming accustomed to a particular smell to the point of not noticing it any more. Most commonly noticed in house smells - when you visit someone's house and it has a very distinctive smell, often a bit stale like the house needs more ventilation, but the people who live there aren't aware.

@butterpuffed @ColleenDonaghy I hope I can say this here without getting flamed - it's anosmia not amnosia!

Thank you! I just copied and pasted and my spell check didn't like it but I was too lazy to google.

No, anosmia is not a term within my regular vocabulary so I wouldn't think to use it. Once people understand what a term means, I don't think it matters too much whether it's strictly correct or not. You can see how 'nose blind' probably just came out of a semi serious conversation or magazine article when there wasn't/isn't a more everyday way to explain what it means.

we also hear of face blindness which makes more sense as it’s associated with sight, maybe it sprung from there?

I think they mean two different things though.

Anosmia is the actual medical loss of your sense of smell.

Nose blind is when you stop smelling something because you're used to it. Like how my house doesn't smell like dog to me but I'm sure it does to a visitor. That's nose blindness.

So saying "my house smells doggy but I have anosmia" isn't accurate because I don't have anosmia, I'm just nose blind to the smell of my stinky dogs.

"noise blind. WTF? What's wrong with deaf?!"

I'm deaf and if I saw "noise blind" I'd flip, honestly. Deaf people see no problem with the word "deaf", it's what we are and that's that.

And face blindness isn’t the inability to see faces. It’s the inability to recognise them.

I think some words and phrases capture meaning brilliantly and fall into regular use as a result.

There are lots, if you think about it.

I could describe DH as noise blind. He’s just unconcerned and unaware of noise that grinds my gears.

I’m noise sensitive, he’s just generally insensitive! But noise blind really captures the way he slams cupboards, leaves radios playing in rooms he’s left, and slaps his feet on the floor with every step. The whole house shakes when he’s putting his washing away as he stomps from room to room. All the while he’s oblivious.

Nose/Noise blind are not the total loss of one of the senses.

They are a term used to decribe the point you become so used to a noise/smell you stop noticing it.

There is no need to get pedantic or offended by either.

Just seen , sorry!

I'm very familiar with the term anosmia because I know someone who suffered from it for a long time and blogged about it. However, I'm not sure that it means exactly the same thing as what people mean when they say "nose blind." I've only come across that as a fairly jokey term meaning that someone is oblivious to some particular smell that they were responsible for, like having smelly feet or wearing too much aftershave. Most people I know, if they were referring to someone with an actual medical condition but didn't know the technical term, would say "she's got no sense of smell" or "she's lost her sense of smell."