tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post2160977161072506634..comments2024-03-16T00:21:43.240+00:00Comments on Separated by a Common Language: sick and illlynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger98125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-44387742788934554382020-08-16T12:58:37.028+01:002020-08-16T12:58:37.028+01:00BrE (Scot, 60+). I could use sicken/sickened to me...BrE (Scot, 60+). I could use sicken/sickened to mean become/became ill, but for me, sickening would always mean very, very disgusting. As would “sick to my stomach”.<br /> Re ILL (lower case L same as upper case I, so I lll looks strange) in hospital to mean injured. In a similar vein, I have a slight problem with the way medical professionals use the word disease (e.g. as in heart disease). It always feels as if diseases should be caused by germs.Shy-replyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01891566073375322808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-24198917051957322582018-04-29T23:40:14.167+01:002018-04-29T23:40:14.167+01:00When I use Uber, I often ask the drivers how they ...When I use Uber, I often ask the drivers how they feel about transporting intoxicated people late at night. A Santa Barbara (California) driver told me about a passenger who "became ill" clearly meaning that he threw up. An Ealing driver (UK) described a similar experience about a passenger who "was sick all over the back seat." Having grown up in the UK, I was very familiar with being sick as a description for vomiting, but 'becoming ill" was new to me! Is it common? (Not becoming ill, but this sense of ill?)Moyeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10667756450913274079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-61164372050435041352015-10-05T09:29:52.286+01:002015-10-05T09:29:52.286+01:00Yes, see Simon K's comment above and subsequen...Yes, see Simon K's comment above and subsequent comments.lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-55462195160209008202015-10-04T16:05:40.021+01:002015-10-04T16:05:40.021+01:00I've just listened to a TV news report where s...I've just listened to a TV news report where someone who had been seriously injured in an accident and was clearly fighting for her life was described as "seriously ill" - Is that accurate? She wasn't suffering from a disease; she had had the misfortune to be on a vehicle which crashed. She was badly HURT. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-19023029087290818992014-06-10T17:19:52.753+01:002014-06-10T17:19:52.753+01:00I've never heard "off sick" in AmE, ...I've never heard "off sick" in AmE, just "out sick." I would know what the first example means, but it just does not seem idiomatic to me.<br /><br />Oddly, "illness" and "sickness" seem to be pretty much equivalent in AmE. I could be wrong.<br />Dianenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-70105596301634856172014-05-09T03:17:09.856+01:002014-05-09T03:17:09.856+01:00A different twist than I have read here on the usa...A different twist than I have read here on the usage of poorly: In my corner of AmE, which is southern Colorado, we use poorly to indicate declining health, making it a commonly used expression for elderly and infirm people who are failing, as in "I am so sorry to hear about your grandmother's feeling poorly".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-25508483923369173192014-03-12T15:16:22.166+00:002014-03-12T15:16:22.166+00:00I'm a millennial from western Massachusetts US...I'm a millennial from western Massachusetts USA, with a most decidedly atypical idiolect. Please bear with me.<br /><br />In no particular order:<br /><br />Sick and Ill both denote unspecified types and degrees of unwell.<br /><br />Sick has connotations of physicaly unwellness, especially gastrointestinal such as nausea, cramps, bloating, or the involuntary, often violent expulsion of bodily fluids.<br /><br />Ill is more likely to connote feelings of mental unwellness, such as anxiety or fatigue or the emotional reaction to being sick.<br /><br />Alternatively Ill can refer to chills or fever.<br /><br />Both are general terms, as contrasted to illness which refers to a specific disease or set of symptoms. Chronic illness can be referred to as ailing, though not commonly.<br /><br />Poorly in the form to be, as a condition or state doesn't register to me.<br /><br />I would only use poorly as to do poorly (at).<br /><br />I would however describe a person as being in poor health.<br /><br />All the words and phrases that describe the act of vomiting are indelicate, but then, so is the act itself.<br /><br />I have seen sick used in that sense, but only in the future tense and as a warning to steer clear.<br /><br />The Result of the act is referred to occasionally as sick, but more frequently in regards to babies and pets than to adult humans.<br /><br /><br />In regards to the specific exchange mentioned in the post I can thing of several plausible interpretations.<br /><br />"What's the problem?" was interpreted as "what's wrong with being sick?" which is incredibly insensitive, hence the sparsity of detail in the reply.<br /><br />They were using sick in a general sense without having any particular symptoms in mind.<br /><br />"the exact nature of my sickness is personal, I maintain the right not to disclose it."<br /><br />"what's the problem?" can be interpreted or misheard as "what was that?" an informal way of saying "I didn't hear and/or understand you, please repeat that"Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02138260302522477243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-41632191399467461602014-03-04T21:40:14.462+00:002014-03-04T21:40:14.462+00:00I'll add my two cents to the Americans': h...I'll add my two cents to the Americans': here's my Canadian point of view.<br /><br />I would use sick to mean any range of maladies from a cold to something serious. I consider ill to be a synonym of sick, though I'd never say someone was ill (barring, perhaps, a severe illness like cancer that had left someone bedridden) -- it sounds too stuffy and old-fashioned. For nonspecific feelings of poor health, I would just say "I'm not feeling well." I agree with other posters that your experience with the woman reiterating "I was sick" was likely due to her perceiving your question as intrusive and overly personal.<br /><br />As for sick as vomit, that's definitely all British. I'm familiar with the usage, but I've never encountered it from a North American. Most of the time "I've been sick" would mean I have felt unwell in some way. If I wanted "I've been sick" to mean "I vomited", it wouldn't be because I consider sick a synonym of vomit, it would be as a more polite euphemism so as to avoid drawing attention to the action (similar to "I need to go to the bathroom" rather than "I need to urinate").<br /><br />The only verbs I'd use would be to vomit or to throw up. As a noun, there'd be vomit (proper), throw-up (usually only said by small children), or more vulgar slang such as "puke".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-34556463345439551802013-11-06T17:51:54.410+00:002013-11-06T17:51:54.410+00:00biochemist
A colleague has just told me that her ...biochemist<br /><br /><i>A colleague has just told me that her father (southern English, 40 years ago) used to say 'I feel a bit queer' when he felt ill.</i><br /><br />A monologue written by Weston and Lee (1922) and performed by Stanley Holloway (1938) began:<br /><br /><i>I've been very <b>poorly</b> but now I feel prime, <br />I've been out today for the very first time. <br />I felt like a lad as I walked down the road, <br />Then I met Old Jones and he said, 'Well I'm blowed!' <br />My word you do look <b>queer</b>! <br />My word you do look <b>queer</b>! <br />Oh, dear! You look dreadful: you've had a near shave, <br />You look like a man with one foot in the grave.' <br />I said, 'Bosh! l'm better; it's true I've been <b>ill</b>.' <br />He said, 'I'm delighted you're better, but still, <br />I wish you'd a thousand for me in your will. <br />My word, you do look <b>queer</b>!'</i>David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-53233794647640053182013-11-06T10:45:58.784+00:002013-11-06T10:45:58.784+00:00The British English Usage of Sick is far more comp...The British English Usage of Sick is far more complicated than in American English. In American English Sick is a general term for any kind of illness. You can say Ill in American English as well but it just sounds like your trying to act smart or you some kind of nerd. If someone in the U.S told me Ive been sick for the past week, it means he had some kind of flue or cold. If you want to say you feel like throwing up we Americans would say "I feel nauseous". In England its also far more common, like the blogger mentions, to ask people "what were you sick or ill with." I was kind of shocked at first by this question because in the U.S nobody ever hardly asks what you were sick with. If some ones been ill/ or sick. They're not likely to want to tell you all the details.Lion hearthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10073407344473087433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-7290269093941808872013-03-11T21:34:00.822+00:002013-03-11T21:34:00.822+00:00Regarding "I've been sick" or "...Regarding "I've been sick" or "I was sick", you hear this in BrE (particularly in the workplace) to mean "I've been (off) sick" or "I was (off) sick", eg. "Where were you last week?" "I was sick", or " I was sick 4.5 days last year" meaning the person had 4.5 sick days that year.<br /><br />As for "poorly", I disagree with it's interpretation as childish. It's used quite regularly in BrE (North-East) to simply mean 'ill' - sometimes a slighly gentler way of saying it, but no real difference in meaning. <br /><br />Also, in BrE, you hear a doctor in a hospital advise that their patient is "poorly", and this implies rather seriously. Well, of course they are ill, why else would they be in (the) hospital?!<br /><br />A common way of describing 'ill' in BrE (North-East) is "bad", eg. "I stayed off work yesterday because I was bad", or "I feel bad" - nothing to do with an act of mischief or malevolence, or feeling guilty! Intersted to know how localised this usage is?CaptainSiCohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18025513284180590274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-25652748269736334022010-06-01T01:22:18.940+01:002010-06-01T01:22:18.940+01:00piersy: Yes, I think you are very much alone there...piersy: Yes, I think you are very much alone there. Sorry.Solohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09740368155249391858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-23626493366097575512010-03-04T11:37:43.642+00:002010-03-04T11:37:43.642+00:00On the subject of sicken, I've only ever reall...On the subject of sicken, I've only ever really used it in the sense of 'sicken for' as in to miss or crave (maybe not crave, perhaps a bit too short term that synonym, perhaps yearn).<br /><br />I guess it might be the passive verb usage of 'To be home sick', or 'to sicken for home'. I surely [BrE (Estuary)] can't be alone in extending this to sicken for half-decent English breakfast when abroad can I?piersyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02753454785192126045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-15307179691127051852010-02-17T08:59:29.558+00:002010-02-17T08:59:29.558+00:00NW-England point of view:
"sick" out of...NW-England point of view:<br /><br />"sick" out of the work context ALWAYS means vomit. If someone says they've been sick, it can only mean that they have vomited. I have never used another word for it than be sick - I've never used the word vomit, or said throw up, etc - always 'to be sick' or 'I've been sick'.<br /><br />I would understand what people meant if they said they'd been ill, but I wouldn't tend to use the word 'ill' myself. I'd say "I've not been well" or "I don't feel well". Incidentally, up in the North I've never heard someone use the word "unwell" - that sounds very strange, and not BrE to me. The negative - "not well" - would be the favoured form.<br /><br />"Ill" to me would be used in one of two contexts. If someone is seriously ill, for example in hospital, or if you were trying to express just how bad you felt, as in "I feel REALLY ill" rather than just "I don't feel well" or "I don't feel at all well".<br /><br />In the context of work, I would say I had been "off sick" or had a "sick day", and I've heard people say "pulled a sickie". But outside off this use of the word sick, it would only ever mean vomit to me.lammylnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-19583673608058979922010-02-09T13:48:30.892+00:002010-02-09T13:48:30.892+00:00On our local train line (Greater London area), the...On our local train line (Greater London area), the driver occasionally delivers reasons for delay over the tannoy: 'Passenger taken ill' is one - this would be a heart attack, fainting or other form of acute collapse that caused the train to be delayed while the passenger is attended by an ambulance crew. <br />The full sentence in normal speech would be 'A passenger has been taken ill' but the drivers use stereotyped phrases (such as 'person under train' - long delay expected there).<br />John Cowan, I agree with your note above about the use of 'of' and 'with' - writing a phrase makes it sound so wooden!biochemistnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-81123397247865649712010-02-07T02:35:49.241+00:002010-02-07T02:35:49.241+00:00Biochemist: sick and tired is used in AmE too, bu...Biochemist: <i>sick and tired</i> is used in AmE too, but only with <i>of</i>, not with <i>with</i>, whereas for me at least <i>fed up</i> demands <i>with</i>.John Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452247999156925669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-10384435587396477972010-01-23T11:24:05.796+00:002010-01-23T11:24:05.796+00:00Way back in the comments, JD quoted:
Oh, I'm ...Way back in the comments, JD quoted:<br /><br />Oh, I'm too tired<br />I'm so sick and tired<br />And I'm feeling very sick and ill today<br />But I'm still fond of you, oh-ho-oh<br /><br />This demonstrates several meanings of sick and ill - here 'sick and tired' is a British idiom, similar to 'fed up', meaning satiated, and not enjoying things...... as in 'I'm sick and tired of this paperwork'; 'She's fed up with his complaints'. <br />Um, I think 'of' and 'with' both work with these phrases.biochemistnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-37482840840868431302010-01-16T22:18:05.641+00:002010-01-16T22:18:05.641+00:00A very interesting article. I am from Leeds, Yorks...A very interesting article. I am from Leeds, Yorkshire, United Kingdom and found the comments on 'poorly' very interesting. I believe the usage of 'poorly' has changed quite a bit over the past decade, especially in my part of the region.<br /><br />Medial Professionals in the region tend to us 'poorly' in a similar way to the usage in the US and elsewhere, and, generally, once a local hears this phrase used by a Medical Professional, their usage often changes. 'Yorkshire English' seems to be in the process of slowly being washed out by the dominant London dialect.<br /><br />Interestingly, 'being ill' is frequently used in Yorkshire as a verb for 'vomiting'.Thomas Churchillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01990883695571834552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-5591016402037551452010-01-16T08:15:28.058+00:002010-01-16T08:15:28.058+00:00Cameron- i think "stable" means a new n...Cameron- i think "stable" means a new normal. One can be in "serious, but stable condition". If one were in "critical condition", you could end up in your ultimate "stable" condition, death. <br /><br />WV: dysicie - hey, you, kick the bucket!Roger Owen Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-8105913839308659512010-01-14T13:45:55.529+00:002010-01-14T13:45:55.529+00:00As with qs, apologies for the slight digression, b...As with qs, apologies for the slight digression, but I always find "in a stable condition" odd, because, let's face it, how much more stable could your condition be than if you were dead? Death seems to me to be the ultimate stable condition!Cameron MacDonald Gazzola Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11460898271918397890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-90662632826738725772010-01-14T12:20:50.100+00:002010-01-14T12:20:50.100+00:00I'm afraid I'm wandering off-topic, both w...I'm afraid I'm wandering off-topic, both with regard to the subject words (sick and ill), and the blog's theme (BrE vs. AmE), but I couldn't help but think of this post in the last day or two when I have heard numerous newscasters, referring to the terrible earthquake in Haiti, speak of "dead and wounded". To me, "wounded" are people (or animals) hurt by direct human activity, such as war or hunting. It's jarring to hear the word applied to victims of a natural calamity. I would have said "dead and injured".<br /><br />Returning you to your previously scheduled topic...gshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01728098613576618648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-78921739498077423732010-01-14T11:24:51.839+00:002010-01-14T11:24:51.839+00:00This is obviously a Hot Topic: http://arnoldzwicky...This is obviously a Hot Topic: http://arnoldzwicky.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/illness-and-disability/#commentsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-46895912363829120392010-01-13T22:23:35.638+00:002010-01-13T22:23:35.638+00:00As a 50-something southern American I can offer th...As a 50-something southern American I can offer the following: "sick" means not well, probably from something acute (cold, flu - not hives) whereas "ill" refers to something more severs. There are also the obvious extensions: sick day (whether real or for mental health), sick pay (compensation on a sick day), "sicko" (someone who is mentally unbalanced and especially someone who commits horrific acts on others - human or animal), "that's sick" (something abhorrent), "sick to my stomach" (nausea with or without vomiting), "sickly" (one who is pale, perhaps to the point of looking 'blue' or one who is very frail or prone to being sick), "sickening" (something that makes you sick to your stomach due to its repulsion)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08674038256425234614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-16993712103546368772010-01-13T22:21:21.053+00:002010-01-13T22:21:21.053+00:00Just read this on Swedish Blog:
Sjukt = see above...Just read this on Swedish Blog:<br /><br />Sjukt = see above. Things can be sjukt bra (very good) sjukt snygg (very good looking) sjukt dyr (very expensive). Sjukt can aslo be used to describe something crazy and insane for example “Hur var filmen?” (How was the movie?) “Den var helt sjuk!” (It was totally insane/sick!)<br />OBS! Sjuk ordinarily means sick in Swedish, as being in “Jag är sjuk” (I am sick) and is pronounced “schuuk”.lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-13269317447370183552010-01-12T21:55:06.723+00:002010-01-12T21:55:06.723+00:00@Fritinancy and Dangling Modifier: I did mention t...@Fritinancy and Dangling Modifier: I did mention that in the post. I speculated that the newness and rapid uptake of this use of sick in BrE meant that it would be a more obvious interpretation to Brit speakers than to their US counterparts. Not founded on anything in particular.<br /><br />I heard a new one today: '<b>sick line</b>. That's apparently the Scots equivalent of Doctor's Note, such as you would have to present to your employer in order to claim <b>sick pay</b>Solonoreply@blogger.com