Ague.
Grippe.
Creeping Crud.
You feel pookie ??? How does pookie react to this? Pookie is something you name your pet. I knew of a pet bird named Pookie, and a pet dog named Pookie, and Soupy Sales had a pet lion named Pookie. (ETA: You can find Pookie of Soupy Sales fame on YouTube.)
I might have a bug, feel icky, have the creeping cruds, or have a cold/the sniffles. Or, if a specific body part is bothering me, I diagnose myself with “(blank) cancer.” That is, a runny nose is nose cancer, or a twinge in the bendy part of my leg is knee cancer. The latter nomenclature is based on a spell I went through of self-diagnosis via internet research, which I finally realized was ridiculous, and began making fun of myself.
We call that The Flaming Shlotz
We enjoy employing those two also.
As well as complaining about our lumbago.
Not to be too gross, but anytime I have what I call a cold, it involves yellowish-greenish stuff when I blow my nose. Isn’t that infection? Doesn’t that mean I have a sinus infection? Is there anything that “a cold” describes that doesn’t involve a sinus infection?
Not trying to be snarky against you, ZipperJJ, just curious about the actual referent for all of these terms.
I’ll admit I used to be one of those people who thought I had the flu when it was actually just a really bad cold. Then I got the flu. I’ll never make that mistake again.
Cooties.
If I’m sniffly and miserable, but otherwise fine, I’ve got a cold and I’ll go about my usual business with a box of tissues at my side. If I’ve got a fever and aches and am so miserable that I can’t function, I’ve got a bad cold and I’ll stay home for a day or two (though lesser symptoms last maybe 3-5 days).
If, on top of all of that, I have a serious fever that lasts a few days, I’m aching bad enough that I don’t even want to sit up and eat something in bed, and I’m puking up most of what I do manage to eat, then I’ve got the flu. That might knock me out of commission for most of a week.
The distinction is that a “cold” is caused by a virus, somewhere in the nose or throat (but not the sinuses). After a while it can leave you congested, which means your sinuses can’t drain and bacteria can grow there. That’s usually what’s referred to as a sinus infection; it means lots of unpleasant congestion and/or drainage but no fever or aches. A sinus infection can also last for weeks.
My friend always refers to a minor illness as “feeling puny,” which for some reason I find adorable.
I just say I have a cold, a bad cold or if it’s worse than that, but not serious “I’m sick”.
This.
On the other hand, I’m even more “rankled” at people who, when I have an actual flu or acute bronchitis, refer to it as “a cold.”
Actually, nearly every time I catch any type of upper respiratory infection, it turns into another bout of bronchitis. 
I used to wonder about how to tell the difference between a cold and the flu.
Then one day, I got the flu. And that was the day I learned that if you have to ask, you don’t have it.
This
I do wish that “culturally in Australia” would die a horrible death in a fire, because again, no. Not everywhere. Some people in some areas may well refer to any sort of respiratory/mucous-system illness as a “flu”, but in my experience most people are likely to go “Bleh, I’ve got a really nasty cold”, and only say “I’ve got the flu” if a doctor has actually said “You’ve got the flu”.
We use pet names around work if everyone is catching the same symptoms. If they’re cold-like symptoms, we all just have “the cooties,” but if what’s going around is, uh, evacuative, we call it “the parvo.” Our work is group-centered without desks of our own, just shared space in the same room, so everyone touches everything and despite tons of hand-washing and use of sanitizers, we usually all get the same virus over the course of a couple of weeks.
I make sure to get a flu shot these days!
I just say I have The Plague
I find this amusing because calling an upper respiratory infection a cold doesn’t sound sensible at all as it has nothing whatsoever to do with cold. Instead, I think it perpetuates myth. Back in the day, my grandmother insisted that if I didn’t wear a sweater on a lovely 50 degree evening, I’d catch a cold. And then she licked her finger and smeared it across my face to remove a stray eyelash. :smack: She meant well, though.
I get respiratory infections or just plain “sick.” I have a cold and am probably very contagious when I want you to just go away.
I’ve just gotten over a URI that has likely morphed into a sinus infection. I *feel *much better but don’t *sound *much better. After four days in bed, which included missing a day of work and being sent home the next, I’m back but my co-workers look skeptical. I keep telling them if I was going to give them anything, they’ve already been recipients before I even knew I was about to go down for the count. I’m pretty sure one of them gave it to me first, though.
I don’t usually get sick. Sometimes I’ll have a stuffed up nose and a bit of a cough. But this can’t get out of bed or puking every time you eat sort of illness? Nope, never had it and I ungenerously assume when someone misses work or begs out of an event due to being sick, it’s because they’re hung over.
Thank you, Sierra Indigo! Seconded. <Somewhere in another thread Australia is "..an intellectual and cultural Siberia.. ":rolleyes:>
So yeah. A cold is a cold, the flu is the flu, and anything non-specific is a case of the peedily waddilies.
The Pox.
My mom calls diarrhea The Green Apple Two Step…not sure if thats a Wisconsin thing.
Similar question so I hope I’m not violating protocol by putting it here:
What do you call that irritating really slow, low volume nasal drip that makes you have to blow your nose every few minutes but get almost NOTHING out. It’s just a constant tickle that you know will drip out of your nose if you don’t wipe/blow it, but it gets no worse than that? Is that just a reaction to the colder weather? A low level cold? WTF is it? (I’ve had it for weeks now!!!)
Meh. Almost without exception people I know in Sydney and Melbourne (which I have extended to the rest of Australia, sorry) call a cold the flu, which is a pet peeve of mine so I notice it.
I have had actual bickering sessions with people about it.
Your experience does vary, I see. When I find one of these lovely pockets of people who do not call it the flu, I will consider moving there so I can live in sunshine and happiness, despite having a cold.