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Glite Dictionary
smell you later

smell you later

3 9.9
To say goodbye in a playful, joking way
  • idiom
  • Informal
: hasta luego
  • He tossed his backpack over his shoulder and called out, 'smell you later,' before leaving.

Examples

  • As they left the party, Tom grinned and said, 'smell you later!'

  • All right, I'll catch you tomorrow. Smell you later!

  • I have to go now, so smell you later!

  • See you at the party! Smell you later!

  • As they finished their drinks, Sam waved and said, 'smell you later!'

  • After a long day at work, Jenna smiled and told her coworkers, 'smell you later!'

  • Timmy shouted 'smell you later!' as he rode away on his bike.

Synonyms

goodbye
vssmell you later
747 1.0

Words people say when they leave each other

is more playful and joking rather than neutral or formal
bye-bye
vssmell you later
  • Informal
397 1.1

A friendly informal way to say goodbye when leaving

is more playful and joking than a childlike informal parting
see you later
vssmell you later
  • Informal
390 1.0

A casual goodbye said when leaving someone and expecting to meet again

is more playful and joking than a straightforward casual parting
see ya
vssmell you later
  • Texting
222 8.4

A friendly way to say goodbye when you expect to meet again

is more playful and joking than a relaxed informal parting
ta ta
vssmell you later
  • UK
20 8.7

A casual way to say goodbye to someone

is more playful and joking than a brief informal parting
pip pip
vssmell you later
  • Archaic
4 9.9

A friendly old-fashioned British way to say goodbye

is more playful and joking than old fashioned British speech

Antonyms

hello
∞ 1.0

A short greeting you say when you meet someone or answer the phone

Surface Forms

smell you later main

Morphology

smell + you + later

This is a playful substitution of 'see' with 'smell' so the sequence 'you later' signals a future parting; a learner who knows 'you' and 'later' may infer it's a goodbye. However, the use of 'smell' is jocular and non-literal, so the exact pragmatic humour and idiomatic use are not fully predictable from the constituents alone.

Etymology

Smell you later is a playful twist on 'see you later'; one popular story says friends began joking that they would smell each other instead of seeing them, creating a silly, slightly gross image. That's why today it's used as a casual, humorous way to say 'goodbye'.