[...] y el olor a balsosa caldeada y a polvo sube hasta mis narices por entre las flores dulzonas. (p 11)
tiene olor a queso = it smells of cheeseThe preposition to follow the noun olor is a: –
¡qué olor a comida!; hay olor a perro aquí; tienen olor a perfume.
Of course, the adjectival use will be formed as per usual, with the adjective following the noun: tiene olor feo; hay olor canino; ¡qué olor tan rico!
NOTE the preposition de in such idiomatic phrases as fue recibido en olor de multitud = he was welcomed by a huge crowd; vivir/morir en olor de santidad = to lead the life of a saint/to die a saint.
Such idioms in English as 'the sweet smell of success', 'there's a smell of defeat in the air', will be translated as la seducción del éxito and el derrotismo se respira en el aire.
Homework: how may these idioms be translated: 'I think I smell a rat' or 'this smells of trouble'? That is, the use of 'smell' to convey suspicion.
the closest idiom I can find is 'aquí hay gato encerrado', which is at least an animal idiom, but one that doesn't convey directly the idea of there being a culprit, or someone bad implcated... for this we'd say 'there's something fishy going on here.'
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