19-year-old blames her body odor on her 18-year-old cousin in front of her boyfriend, 18-year-old tells him she's lying: 'I said the smell is not from me'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Aug 15, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

There's something so embarrassing about your body feeling out of control. I'm sure we all remember that day in the 3rd grade when we threw up out of the blue in front of our peers, or that one time in middle school when we forgot to bring deodorant for after gym class, and nobody would let us borrow their Lady Speed Stick. It feels awful because we know that everybody in the room is perceiving our earthly form at its most vulnerable state, and there's nothing we can do about it. All we can do is hope they think our body odor is coming from someone else, while being fully aware that they do not. If you're an adult, you can run to the nearest CVS and grab a stick of deodorant during desperate times, but when you're a child stuck in a school building, you're fresh out of luck. 

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  • Cheezburger Image 10541810176
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • The woman in this story probably could've prepared to avoid smelling like BO, but she didn't. Instead, she blamed her odor on her cousin so her boyfriend would think that she smelled, but her cousin set her straight. After all that drama and conflama, her boyfriend didn't even care that she smelled bad.

  • AITA for calling out my cousin when she tried to blame her body odor on me?

    I'm (18f) from Ontario Canada and my cousin (19f) is from Florida USA. I'm staying with her family in Florida. We were out at midday at an outdoor restaurant and my cousin's boyfriend (20m) was to meet us. My cousin had a sweaty body odor but she had an active day. The BF kissed me cousin, and she introduced us. At
    via u/Fun_Pom
  • Cheezburger Image 10541811200
    via laura adai (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • the table, he made a face. When I was looking away, my cousin tried to whisper to her BF but I heard her. "The smell is from (my name). Please don't say anything." I said the smell is not from me. The BF got his nose close to my cousin upper body and smelled her. He
    via u/Fun_Pom
  • A close up of a mans face with a cell phone in his ear
    via Paris Bilal (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • kissed her on top of her head and told her it's humanizing when such a beautiful woman gets smelly. She laughed awkwardly. On the ride back home, she told me that I unnecessarily embarrassed her. She said I broke the girl code. Am I the a hole?
    via u/Fun_Pom
  • Someone You Dont Know70 NTA. She broke the "girl code" by bringing it up when no one else did, and she made it even worse by pinning it on you. She embarrassed herself.
    via u/SomeoneDontKnow70
  • TheOpinion/Share Yeah. I'm thinking that girl code would dictate that no girls acknowledge the smell. And if you do acknowledge the smell, you don't acknowledge that it's coming from a girl - blame something in the environment.
    via u/TheOpinionIShare
  • Novel_Fox And honestly if she's that sensitive about it, carry a travel size stick of deodorant in your bag. I get sweaty too. If there's a bathroom nearby I'll pop in and use the soap and water to freshen up my armpits and the add some deodorant. Voila! I feel and smell much better
    via u/Novel_Fox
  • RoyallyOakie NTA...She embarrassed herself by lying. The boyfriend seems like a cool guy.
    via u/RoyallyOakie
  • Wynfleue He kissed her on top of her head and told her it's humanizing when such a beautiful woman gets smelly. This is seriously the best possible response from the boyfriend because it acknowledges that it's a human experience and it doesn't negatively effect his opinion of her. If these people are going to
    via u/Wynfleue
  • have a real adult relationship it's going to have to include things like BO, farts, morning breath ... you know, all of the normal things that human bodies do. Trying to pretend like girls never stink or it'll kill the romance is a surefire way to kill the relationship long-term because that girl will never be able to be 'off' around her partner.
    via u/Wynfleue
  • FeuerroteZora For real, this guy's response is just chef's kiss. If you don't think you can come up with something as smooth as this in the moment, just memorize his response!
    via u/FeuerroteZora
  • 73birthdaygirl Yes, but he did learn something about her when he saw witnessed her throwing you under the bus. I wonder if he's going to give that a think.
    via u/73birthdaygirl
  • TooManyAnts How ride of you to climb out from under the bus she threw you under >:(
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  • owls_and_cardinals NTA. She broke girl code by trying to throw you under the bus. Her behavior is gross. Why does she get the benefit of 'girl code' to save face and you don't?
    via u/owls_and_cardinals
  • No-Oil74 Refusing to take the blame for someone else's B.O. is NOT breaking girl code. What IS breaking girl code is to blame someone else for your own bad situation/behavior. What a petty thing to do. NTA (Keep an eye on her. She's going to try it again/get revenge.)
    via u/No-Oil74
  • Prestigious-Name-323 NTA Pretty sure it breaks girl code to blame someone else for your smell.
    via u/Prestigious-Name-323
  • YohanWinchester NTA. Your cousin is so unserious for bringing it up and blaming you when her bf probably knew it was her in the first place but didn't say anything because he has manners. He also tried to deflect and make it less awkward.
    via u/YohanWinchester
  • lamlrene On the ride back home, she told me that I unnecessarily embarrassed her. So...unnecessarily embarrassing you is okay? ? NTA. I hope she learned something here.
    via u/lamlrene
  • rubypinkie Nah, she embarrassed herself by lying about you. That's not girl code, that's just throwing you under the bus to save face. NTA
    via u/rubypinkie
  • IsMyHairShiny NTA. She's immature.
    via u/IsMyHairShiny
  • Traditional_Koala216 NTA. People get stinky from time to time. Instead of saying like "oh I've been super active and sweaty today, sorry if I'm a little funky", she tried to blame it on you. Also, the south in the US during summer time is hot and humid. If you spend any sort of time outside, sweating is gonna occur. She should be used to it and adjust accordingly.
    via u/Traditional_Koala216
  • anondogfree NTA but this story has a cute ending. Good lesson for both of you to learn that men know women have the same bodily functions and love them just the same. Your cousin needs to get over herself.
    via u/anondogfree
  • Sunset-onthe-Horizon NTA Gross
    via u/Sunset-onthe-Horizon

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boyfriend teens family drama teenager body odor teenagers odor deodorant reddit story etiquette young people family reddit thread Reddit cousins cousin
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