# Got a cold? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 25, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180 "2011-05-25T17:49:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/1 "2011-05-25T17:49:00Z")
I do, though it’s winding down. It’s had me thinking, though, how odd it is that the English word for this common ailment is the same as an adjective for temperature. What are colds called in other languages? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/2 "2011-05-25T17:56:50Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > What are colds called in other languages? The word I learned in Spanish class is _catarro_, but I see that Spanish also uses _resfriado_ or _resfriado comun_, which pretty much literally translates to “common cold.” (_Resfriar_ = to chill.) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/3 "2011-05-25T17:58:43Z")
In French it’s _Rhume_, if Wikipedia is to be believed. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/4 "2011-05-25T17:59:21Z")
Zukaam in Urdu/Hindi…I think zukaam is a truly Urdu word, but I do not know if there is a word in Hindi for it. For an interesting fact, to say “I am feeling naseous” in Hindi you say “Dil katcha ho raha hai” which literally means “My heart is feeling raw”. I always liked that one. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/5 "2011-05-25T18:01:02Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > In French it’s _Rhume_, if Wikipedia is to be believed. Which is also what Inspector Clouseau asks for in a hotel. ---
**Author:** ![beartato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@beartato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beartato)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/6 "2011-05-25T18:02:11Z")
The French word is _rhume_. Looking into it I see it comes from the Latin word for flow - for obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/7 "2011-05-26T05:20:10Z")
“Erkältung” in German, which is also related to “cold”. It’s based on the idea that being exposed to cold temperatures will cause you to catch a cold. Although feeling chilly at the beginning of a cold is a symptom of the raising fever, not the cause of the disease. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/8 "2011-05-26T07:38:46Z")
And the German word for the cold outside is “Kälte” - related, but not the same. ---
**Author:** ![Nathan\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/47e85d/32.png) [@Nathan\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nathan_S)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/9 "2011-05-26T11:53:26Z")
In Italian, cold (the illness) is known as “raffreddore”, which literally means … something that makes you cold! Cold, as in temperature, is “freddo”. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/10 "2011-05-26T12:14:01Z")
Swedish: förkylning. The “kylning” part refers to being cooled. “För” is a modifier that can do all sort of things, including the equivalent English “too/overly”. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/11 "2011-05-26T12:25:48Z")
In Japanese 風邪 _kaze_ which is made of the two characters for “wind” and “wicked” or “vicious.” We’ll have to wait for one of the Japanese scholars to give the origins for the word. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/12 "2011-05-26T12:58:41Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Swedish: förkylning. The “kylning” part refers to being cooled. “För” is a modifier that can do all sort of things, including the equivalent English “too/overly”. That’s exactly what the Er- in Erkältung does. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/13 "2011-05-26T13:00:54Z")
> [@beartato](#): > > The French word is _rhume_. Looking into it I see it comes from the Latin word for flow - for obvious reasons. Note that the expression _prendre froid_ (taking cold) is also common. More old fashioned people might also warn that if you don’t cover up, you’re going to _attraper la mort_ (catch death). \*Rhume \*is the more “medical” term, and it also applies to hay fever (“rhume des foins”). It also spawned an adverb : _enrhumé_, which I suppose one could translate as “encolded”. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/14 "2011-05-26T15:02:54Z")
Strangely, to catch a cold in Chinese is “伤风”, which literally means “hurting/painful/wound wind”. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/15 "2011-05-26T18:27:10Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > In Japanese 風邪 _kaze_ which is made of the two characters for “wind” and “wicked” or “vicious.” We’ll have to wait for one of the Japanese scholars to give the origins for the word. > [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](#): > > Strangely, to catch a cold in Chinese is “伤风”, which literally means “hurting/painful/wound wind”. Interesting. Related? Thanks for your answers, everyone. Now I’m wondering why it is – **Anaglyph** , were you speculating, or do you have a cite? ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/16 "2011-05-26T18:40:12Z")
In Kannada, it’s “negadi” (as close as I can get in Latin script). Totally unrelated to the words for feeling cold (chhali) and being cold, like a cold object (thanni-). And yes, I have a negadi. Most annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/17 "2011-05-27T04:55:01Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > The word I learned in Spanish class is _catarro_, but I see that Spanish also uses _resfriado_ or _resfriado comun_, which pretty much literally translates to “common cold.” (_Resfriar_ = to chill.) Yes, specifically to say in Spanish that you have a cold you say “estoy resfriado” (I am chilled). ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-cold/583180/18 "2011-05-27T05:49:10Z")
> [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](#): > > Strangely, to catch a cold in Chinese is “伤风”, which literally means “hurting/painful/wound wind”. I’m assuming that the Chinese came first, and that the Japanese borrowed the idea from Chinese medicine.