# The phrase: "You're a Pill!" Heard it? Used it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 10, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793 "2009-12-10T23:52:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![stargazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@stargazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stargazer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/21 "2009-12-11T16:23:05Z")
My husband and I will tell our toddler that he’s being a pill when he’s being a PITA. Or one of us will tell the other, upon the other arriving home, that the child is being a pill. Sometimes we’ll say “he’s being especially 2,” but pill is easier. My mom and grandmother both used the phrase; I’m not sure about my husband’s family. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/22 "2009-12-11T16:30:25Z")
I know it from “You’ve Got Mail”: “She’s beautiful but she’s a pill.” It sounded old-fashioned even for Tom Hanks. ETA: D’oh! Hi, **Archive Guy**. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/23 "2009-12-11T16:33:13Z")
> [@stargazer](#): > > Sometimes we’ll say “he’s being especially 2,” 🙂 Like poop? How about “He’s really 1ing me off.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/24 "2009-12-11T16:34:41Z")
I refer to my daughter as a pill when what I want to say is that she’s being a bitchy little pain in the ass, but I don’t want to use any of those words to refer to my daughter. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/25 "2009-12-11T16:54:32Z")
I use it for the same reasons **ENugent** does. If my son’s being a little shit and someone at work or someone I don’t know well asks me about him, saying he’s a pill is much more acceptable than saying he’s a little shit. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/26 "2009-12-11T16:55:44Z")
I almost the term in a thread in the last week. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/27 "2009-12-11T17:32:56Z")
> [@ShelliBean](#): > > I’ve used it to describe my kids before. Not directly at them “you are a pill” but, for example, dropping the oldest off with his dad’s family for the night “he’s been kind of a pill today so I hope he cheers up for you” or to a teacher “He was a real pill last night and we talked about attitudes; I hope you don’t have any trouble today!” > > I use it just like “pain in the ass” except I can’t call my kids pains in the ass so I say “pill”. Yeah, that’s pretty much how my wife and I use it since the Firebug came into our lives. I was familiar with the expression before that, but almost never used it back then. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/28 "2009-12-11T17:36:52Z")
> [@stargazer](#): > > Sometimes we’ll say “he’s being especially 2,” but pill is easier. True, but there’s definitely something to the phrase “he’s being especially 2.” Now that you’ve introduced me to the phrase, I think the wife and I are going to be giving it quite a workout between now and the Firebug’s third birthday. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/29 "2009-12-11T17:43:22Z")
I don’t use it, but my mom (63) uses it all the time, frequently to refer to my niece. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/30 "2009-12-11T17:45:23Z")
“A pill” for a doc? Only in old westerns, old blues songs and oldish novels. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/31 "2009-12-11T17:48:57Z")
My favorite use of this phrase I heard once from a bitchy relative, “They are a perfect couple…She’s a pill and he’s a headache. I hope they make each other miserable.” ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/32 "2009-12-11T18:01:32Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > The other day I told my boyfriend, “You think you’re such a card, don’t you?” and he said I sounded like a grandma. 😃 I love using words like this, for exactly this reason. I use “card” all the time. “Cut-up” is another good one. I’ve used “pill” once or twice, but I plan to use it more now. I usually say “treat” (sarcastically), as in, “Well, you’re just a treat, aren’t you?” or “He sounds like a real treat.” I have no idea why using antiquated terms entertains me so, but it does, by crackey! ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/33 "2009-12-11T21:07:15Z")
My parents said it quite often. I say it sometimes. “Quit being such a pill!” ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/34 "2009-12-11T21:29:31Z")
My mom used to call my brother that all the time, and make up songs. It helps that my brother’s name rhymes with ‘pill’. So he was ‘[Brother’s name] the Pill’ for years. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/35 "2009-12-12T01:14:48Z")
I use it all the time. I’ve been calling the baby a pill today because she was weirdly cranky, whiny, and clingy. It’s kind of part of my kid code - it’s unacceptable to say to a 2yo, “Why are you being such a pain in the ass?” but “pill” is OK. Kind of like we use “goofball” to stand in when sometimes we really want to say “idiot.” (N.B., I love my kids, don’t regularly put them down, and actually consider them to be better behaved than most of their peers. But everybody’s a pain in the ass or an idiot some of the time!) ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/36 "2009-12-12T01:24:09Z")
I’ve heard both “you’re a pill” as **GreenBean** described it and “take a pill” as in ‘chill pill’. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/37 "2009-12-12T02:15:07Z")
Wow, haven’t heard that in a long time! My mom used it while we were growing up \<‘We’ are 43-32 now\> and used it to mean ‘pain in the ass’. She was raised in Maine, if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/38 "2009-12-12T16:37:29Z")
When my seven year old daughter is griping a lot over some perceived injustice, I’ve been known to tell her, “Chill, pill!” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/39 "2009-12-12T17:18:56Z")
My parents & their cohort (now in their mid 70s & up) used it to mean a pain in the ass, not to mean a wet blanket. I don’t think I’ve said it but once or twice in 50+ years. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793/40 "2009-12-12T17:24:17Z")
I had never heard it before I moved to Mississippi: my mother-in-law was the first person I’ve heard use the phrase. I don’t use it at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-phrase-youre-a-pill-heard-it-used-it/520793.md?page=3)