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Mon 31 Oct, 2011 02:44 am
source:
... suggested that the index of economic dominance presented here appears to pass the smell test in terms of its ability to track the history of such dominance since 1870. Even Germany, Russia, and Japan make their brief appearance and quick retreats at the relevant points in time.
Could someone help me and explain the sentences?
@Betelnut,
It means that something appears, at a first look, to be satisfactory. It comes from the idea of smelling food in advance as a test to see if it has gone bad.
@contrex,
Also we say "there's something fishy about this", meaning, if it smells fishy (metaphorically speaking) there is something not quite right about it, something as yet indefinable.
The more modern expression to "pass the smell test" doubtless refers to this.
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