Under normal circumstances, the smell of male semen is closer to the smell of gardenia flowers, and some people find it a faint foul smell. It is normal for sperm to have a bad odor, which is emitted by the oxidation of a chemical called “arginine”. It is normal for sperm to have an odor similar to the above, but the lack of this particular odor often indicates impaired prostate function, which is usually not detected in the semen of many prostate patients, and in some cases, the semen of patients with prostatitis or severe urethritis has a severe fishy odor. In addition, dietary habits can also have an effect on the smell of semen, such as eating more garlic and stinky tofu, which can also make semen smell irritatingly unpleasant and offensive. If you suspect that there is a problem with semen, you can also go to a regular hospital for a routine semen examination to see if it is normal.