to smell like a rose
2
6.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
salir bien parado
- When that happens, it's sometimes helpful to keep a few stories in mind of people who messed up way worse than most of us could ever dream of yet ended up smelling like a rose.
- come out smelling like a rose
I was in a dangerous situation and I came out smelling like a rose, you know, and I asked the rabbi like, you know, I didn't.
- I was in a dangerous situation and I came out smelling like a rose, you know, and I asked the rabbi like, you know, I didn't.
Examples
-
So, you go to Hughes' boat, and in the process, he tells you that because of your efforts, all of the city is after the Saints. He comes out smelling like a rose because no one suspects his involvement in Winslow's assassination—which it is implied he had the chief force you to do, and he's going to kill you.
Blog text (31) -
Some of the foulest deeds come out smelling like a rose.
Academic text (2006) -
"We fell in a shit river," he announced, "and came out smelling like a rose."
Fiction book (2001) -
In all of those situations, I had everything I needed to survive, and I came out smelling like a rose each and every time.
Blog text (18) -
Don't worry, he has got the media protecting him; they will make sure he will come up smelling like a rose.
Blog text (28) -
"I doubt our incumbent will come out of this presidency smelling like a rose.
Fiction book (1998) -
Despite the odds stacked against me, I have yet once again emerged on top and smelling like a rose.
Blog text (14) -
I was in a dangerous situation and I came out smelling like a rose, you know, and I asked the rabbi like, you know, I didn't.
-
They just have to make it obvious that he was massively cheated out of victory in the Cell, and everyone comes out smelling like a rose.
Blog text (24) -
After the investigation, he came out smelling like a rose despite the initial accusations against him.
Antonyms
How Innocent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The idiomatic sense ‘to emerge in a favorable or unimpaired state’ is not directly derivable from the literal parts — a B1 learner who knows 'smell', 'like' and 'rose' will most likely interpret this as literally having a pleasant scent. The figurative meaning (cf. 'come out smelling like a rose') is metaphoric and language-specific, so prior exposure is needed to access the non-literal sense.
Etymology
Smell like a rose may come from the simple image of someone who is covered in dirt or trouble but is washed with rose water and now smells of rose, so they seem clean and fine. So, the phrase now means 'to come out looking good' after a difficult or messy situation.