he who smelt it dealt it
- idiom
- Baby Talk
:
el que lo olió lo hizo
- When the unpleasant odor filled the room, Sam quickly said, 'he who smelt it dealt it,' making everyone laugh.
Examples
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In school, whenever someone accused another of passing gas, the response was always 'he who smelt it dealt it.'
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When the bad odor filled the room, everyone looked at John and said, he who smelt it dealt it.
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As soon as someone noticed the mess, Lisa blurted out 'he who smelt it dealt it.'
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Don't blame me for the smell; it's always he who smelt it dealt it!
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When someone pointed out the foul smell, Jake joked, 'he who smelt it dealt it,' making everyone laugh.
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At the party, when the stench became noticeable, Sarah exclaimed, 'he who smelt it dealt it!'
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As the foul odor wafted through the air, Mark couldn't help but say, 'he who smelt it dealt it,' eliciting giggles from his friends.
Synonyms
A joking way to blame the person who notices a bad smell for making it
Surface Forms
Morphology
he + who + smelt + it + deal + it
The literal elements ('smelt' = smelled; 'he who smelt it' = the person who noticed the smell) give a clear hint that the speaker is accusing the smeller of being the culprit, so part of the meaning is inferable. However, the use of 'dealt it' is idiomatic/rhyming slang rather than the normal sense of 'deal', and the proverbical, humorous convention is language-specific, so the exact conventional accusation is not fully predictable to a B1 learner without exposure.
Etymology
He who smelt it dealt it began as a schoolyard rhyme used to shift blame when a bad smell appeared. The joke makes a clear picture: the person who first smelt the smell is playfully said to have dealt it ('caused' it), so people use the phrase to tease and avoid blame.
