# What's a better word for feeling "sick" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 2, 2023, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478 "2023-11-02T15:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/21 "2023-11-02T18:13:17Z")
I have found in medical settings it’s best to be blunt. If I gotta vomit I say so, loud and proud. Usually it’s “look out, I’m gonna puke!” ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/22 "2023-11-02T18:13:19Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Perhaps, though there were a few years some while back where “sick” had become adolescent slang for “awesome”. I think that usage was transient and has since become passe, but I could be wrong. Yes, there seem to be recurrent cases where slang uses reversal. Like, of course, ‘bad’. Oh well, usage eventually determines validity in English. We don’t have an Academie Francaise trying to standardise the language… a hopeless rearguard action anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/23 "2023-11-02T18:27:45Z")
To add - I don’t necessarily associate the phrase “feeling sick” with nausea, unless they say “feeling sick to my stomach.” When I’m minorly sick, I usually say “I’m not feeling well”, “I’m feeling unwell” or “I’m feeling under the weather”, the last one might be an old people expression. My kid used to call it “the itis”, a reference to the suffix, I presume. If the illness is not minor, I’m usually like “I just got slammed with the fucking flu” or “stay away from me I’m dying” or “I’m on my deathbed”. Like many people that are rarely seriously I’ll, I can be dramatic when it occurs. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/24 "2023-11-02T18:30:15Z")
My mother would sometimes use the phrase “feeling punk” for being somewhat ill. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/25 "2023-11-02T18:32:58Z")
I use “I don’t feel so good” a lot for minor illness. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/26 "2023-11-02T18:33:31Z")
Feeling puny, is one I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/27 "2023-11-02T18:34:56Z")
To me, ‘congested and feverish’ implies coughing, fatigue, and body aches. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/28 "2023-11-02T18:43:10Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Or, to be more specific: > Sniffly > Sneezing > Congested > I have a cough So I want a word that describes the feeling that goes along with those, but is not actually those symptoms. Like right now I have all those symptoms but while they suck they aren’t the worst thing about whatever bug I have, it’s the how crappy I feel. Like I’d be ok working with just those symptoms (i work remotely so I am not infecting anyone, whether I stay in bed or get up and go to my computer) but the reason I am still in bed is I feel crappy/ill/sick. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > A word I use for the general “I ain’t right” feeling is “malaise” I think this probably technically correct, and describes what I’m after but I don’t want to sound like a consumptive 18th century poet 😉 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/29 "2023-11-02T18:44:31Z")
oh, I was going to suggest malaise. How about “under the weather”? ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/30 "2023-11-02T18:51:32Z")
I like the British “poorly.” But since I’m not British, I can’t use it without sounding pretentious. Like some others, to me “sick” does not necessarily suggest nausea/vomiting. So I will usually just say “I’m sick” or “I feel sick.” My mother used to say “Got the epizootic?” when I was feeling ill. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/31 "2023-11-02T18:56:33Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > Oh well, usage eventually determines validity in English. We don’t have an Academie Francaise trying to standardise the language… a hopeless rearguard action anyway. Is this still a thing? I ask because I’ve been watching some recent French police procedurals, and I’ve been amazed at how many English words are used routinely. In one, the title character uses “stop” more often than “arrete” (sp? I think it has that teeppee shaped accent over the first ‘e,’ too). ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/32 "2023-11-02T19:29:12Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > @griffin1977 , from which speech community do you hail? I’m from Britain (the South/Midlands) but I’ve been in the US for twenty years (mainly on the West Coast) ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/33 "2023-11-02T19:32:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Or “poorly” I do use this term. But I wouldn’t use it unironically about an adult, like I’ll use it to my five year old whenever she gets sick (she is the primary plague vector in our household as she just started kindergarten) ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/34 "2023-11-02T19:47:00Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Is this still a thing? I ask because I’ve been watching some recent French police procedurals, and I’ve been amazed at how many English words are used routinely. In one, the title character uses “stop” more often than “arrete” (sp? I think it has that teeppee shaped accent over the first ‘e,’ too). I mean it’s always been the case in my experience, that the one thing the French like more than coming up with arcane bureaucratic regulations is, ignoring their arcane bureaucratic regulations;) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/35 "2023-11-02T19:48:52Z")
“Feel like I been shot at and missed, shit at and hit.” 🤒 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/36 "2023-11-02T20:04:11Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > To add - I don’t necessarily associate the phrase “feeling sick” with nausea, A purist would say that you can only be nauseated. If you are nauseous, you’re actually causing nausea in someone. > [@MrAtoz](#): > > My mother used to say “Got the epizootic?” when I was feeling ill. That’s from a movie with Robert Duvall, actually. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/37 "2023-11-02T20:59:51Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > If you are nauseous, you’re actually causing nausea in someone My father, a gastroenterologist, was a stickler on those two words. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/38 "2023-11-02T21:23:20Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Is this still a thing? It seems to still exist, according to Wikipedia at least. How much authority it has, or how much attention is paid to it in practise, I can’t say. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/39 "2023-11-02T21:24:42Z")
Watching these shows, not much. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478/40 "2023-11-02T21:40:16Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > A word I use for the general “I ain’t right” feeling is “malaise” > > I think this probably technically correct, and describes what I’m after but I don’t want to sound like a consumptive 18th century poet 😉 Or a Pink Floyd lyricist. 🙃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-better-word-for-feeling-sick/992478.md?page=3)