# Is there a word for this sensation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 5, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407 "2008-02-05T18:10:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/1 "2008-02-05T18:10:16Z")
That sensation that you sometimes get before you get sick of being just…bleh. Generally unwell, though you can’t really pinpoint why, exactly. Or in my current case, when you’ve been sick, some of the symptoms have gotten better, others have gotten worse, and you still feel generally icky. Is it an actual, medically-acknowledged thing, or just seem as people whining and/or imagining things? If it is real, what causes it? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/2 "2008-02-05T18:11:24Z")
[Malaise?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaise) ---
**Author:** ![oldboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aca169/32.png) [@oldboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldboy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/3 "2008-02-05T18:44:53Z")
[QUOTE=NinjaChick] That sensation that you sometimes get before you get sick of being just…bleh. Generally unwell, though you can’t really pinpoint why, exactly. Or in my current case, when you’ve been sick, some of the symptoms have gotten better, others have gotten worse, and you still feel generally icky. Is it an actual, medically-acknowledged thing, or just seem as people whining and/or imagining things? If it is real, what causes it? [/QUOTE] it does somewhat depend on what the original illness was ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/4 "2008-02-05T19:36:32Z")
“Coming down with something”? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/5 "2008-02-05T19:50:11Z")
Crosswords have led me to believe that this feeling is “ague,” though I believe that to be etymologically incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/6 "2008-02-05T20:52:37Z")
[QUOTE=Ferret Herder] [Malaise?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaise) [/QUOTE] Sounds right. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/7 "2008-02-05T23:37:17Z")
Nausea? ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/8 "2008-02-05T23:58:49Z")
Logy ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/9 "2008-02-06T00:21:58Z")
Quesy? ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/10 "2008-02-06T00:36:18Z")
I was just at an immunologist’s today talking about just this feeling. I get recurring frequent malaises, and have for years, which don’t seem to develop into a proper cold or flu. I didn’t know how to describe it to her, but did my best - she said the word to use was “malaise”. And that I didn’t have lupus. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/11 "2008-02-06T01:16:43Z")
My dad calls it “the ick.” I don’t suppose that qualifies as the kind of quality answer expected in GQ, but it’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/12 "2008-02-06T01:19:32Z")
[QUOTE=teela brown] I was just at an immunologist’s today talking about just this feeling. I get recurring frequent malaises, and have for years, which don’t seem to develop into a proper cold or flu. I didn’t know how to describe it to her, but did my best - she said the word to use was “malaise”. And that I didn’t have lupus. [/QUOTE] It’s never lupus. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/13 "2008-02-06T02:47:48Z")
[Monty Python] Vet: It’s the old stockbroker syndrome, the suburban fin de siecle ennui, angst, weltschmertz, call it what you will. Mrs B: Moping. Vet: In a way, in a way … hum … moping, I must remember that. [/MP] ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Cloud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@Little\_Cloud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Cloud)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/14 "2008-02-06T04:40:27Z")
Medically, we refer to the vague symptoms before the full illness as the **prodrome**. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/15 "2008-02-06T04:45:24Z")
Creeping malaise? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/16 "2008-02-06T13:58:24Z")
[QUOTE=Mr Bus Guy] Creeping malaise? [/QUOTE] Thanks. Now I’m gonna have that song stuck in my head all day. Actually, that’s rather okay with me. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/17 "2008-02-06T15:27:18Z")
[QUOTE=Little Cloud] Medically, we refer to the vague symptoms before the full illness as the **prodrome**. [/QUOTE] Does this mean it’s medically acknowledged? I mean - when I saw the nurse the other day and explained that on top of a bad cough I just felt ‘ech’, she (probably) didn’t just write it off as me whining? ---
**Author:** ![herownself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8baadc/32.png) [@herownself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herownself)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/18 "2008-02-06T22:58:54Z")
But they always tell you it might be Lupus, to get you off of their hands and on to someone else’s … ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/19 "2008-02-07T04:41:26Z")
Douglas Adams would have assigned a British place name to it. (see: [Meaning of Liff](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_meaning_of_liff)) I suggest [Illey,](http://tinyurl.com/25vptf) West Midlands. ---
**Author:** ![TROY\_TEMPEST](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4da419/32.png) [@TROY\_TEMPEST](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TROY_TEMPEST)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this-sensation/436407/20 "2008-02-07T04:49:12Z")
In my experience, it’s called " the glurg"