The immediate stench of Marijuana

[nagomi]

"I had only ever been to her apartment a couple of times. She lived with a roommate, so she wanted to try not to disturb her when possible. We got to her door, and when we went inside, I was hit with the immediate stench of marijuana. Eri shut the door and sighed, walking past me and into the common area of the apartment."

What does "immediate" mean here? To think it's "near", the molecular of the smell is already in the speaker's nostril. So it's near obviously. This musn't be it. To think it's "instant", it's off as well. Since the smoking must have happened recently enough, it's still there. This one seems obvious too.

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[elroy]

It means I immediately smelled it.

 

[heypresto]

I could smell it as soon as I entered the apartment.

 

[manfy]

What does "immediate" mean here? To think it's "near", the molecular of the smell is already in the speaker's nostril. So it's near obviously. This musn't be it. To think it's "instant", it's off as well. Since the smoking must have happened recently enough, it's still there. This one seems obvious too.

What is it?

Immediate expresses a mix of both. The scent of ganja is in immediate vicinity and immediate in a temporal sense.

PS: There is no such thing as a stench of marijuana - the author must be mistaken! Marijuana leaves an alluring scent when smoked or burned in other ways...!!

 

[heypresto]

There is no such thing as a stench of marijuana

I beg to differ. It reeks!

 

[elroy]

The scent of ganja is in immediate vicinity and immediate in a temporal sense.

For me, it’s only temporal.

 

[manfy]

I beg to differ. It reeks!

Granted, what I called an 'alluring scent' may - for many people - turn into a stench in a closed room.

For me, it’s only temporal.

Yes, that's the dominant meaning, but the spatial idea cannot be excluded. It's a connotation that lingers in the meaning of the word, especially in this context.

 

[PaulQ]

I was hit with the immediate stench of marijuana.

"Stench" has been use to indicate that the narrator/speaker is being pejorative about marijuana. There are many other words they could have used: each would have had its own nuance.

 

[ain'ttranslationfun?]

I thought it meant "I was immediately hit with ("My nostrils were immediately assailed by") a strong odor of marijuana;"; the speaker doesn't like that smell. (By the way, was "Marijuana" spelled with a capital "M" in the book? It usually isn't.)

 

[Roxxxannne]

Immediate expresses a mix of both. The scent of ganja is in immediate vicinity and immediate in a temporal sense.

PS: There is no such thing as a stench of marijuana - the author must be mistaken! Marijuana leaves an alluring scent when smoked or burned in other ways...!!

You may be confusing the skunky smell of marijuana with the lovely scent of incense.

 

[kentix]

To me it seems like it's primarily a reference to the closeness and overwhelming-ness* of it, which, of course, was sudden as they walked through the door.

* my word

In a purely temporal sense, you would just say:

We got to her door, and when we went inside, I was immediately hit with the immediate stench of marijuana.​

This is the second definition in the WR dictionary:

having no object or space in between: lives in the immediate vicinity.​

I think this is the primary sense in the sentence.

 

[nagomi]

I thought it meant "I was immediately hit with ("My nostrils were immediately assailed by") a strong odor of marijuana;"; the speaker doesn't like that smell. (By the way, was "Marijuana" spelled with a capital "M" in the book? It usually isn't.)

It was not really a book, but a web-based novel. So, a little informal.

 

[Linkway]

I see the use of 'immediate' in this context as referring to the speed and certainty that he detected the strong smell and what it was.

He didn't hesitate; it didn't take time for him to decide. The strength of the smell was what it was - it was the visitor's perception that was immediate.

In other circumstances, that particular visitor might have been unable to detect a particular smell, or could have become gradually aware of it.