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Upon seeing a particular enterprise software solution XYZ being mentioned, a
passing-by IT engineer wrote this:

> XYZなかなか香ばしい

My [dictionary](https://jisho.org/search/%E9%A6%99%E3%81%B0%E3%81%97%E3%81%84)
only have food-related definitions for this word.

What could have he meant?
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2019-03-15T08:27:36.937
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2019-03-17T03:31:35.733
2019-03-17T03:31:35.733
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question
internet-slang
Software described as 香ばしい
「香{こう}ばしい」 used in the context you described must have been used for its
internet slang meaning rather than for its "dictionary" meaning about food
smelling fragrant, aromatic, etc.

The slang meanings are instead **_negative_** -- "shady", "cringe-worthy",
"pitiful", etc.
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2019-03-15T08:45:37.747
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answer
Adding to @l'électeur's answer, one of the main usages of 香ばしい is to describe
the fragrance of cooked food: _toasty_ or _roasty_ in English.

On top of this association, it comes to be used as an internet slang with a
figurative sense of "smelling smoke"; that is, to jokingly suggest "I smell
their brain burning", "it smells flaming-prone", or anything that has volatile
dangers that can be felt.
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2019-03-16T04:45:24.237
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answer