a bad case?

Question

Whoever had worn them had had a bad case of foot odor.What does "bad case of" mean?

Teechr · Accepted Answer

"Case" means an instance or an example of some situation.

"A bad case of" means "a terrible instance of."

"a bad case of foot odor" means that person had very smelly feet!

AppleFanboy · Answer

I still don't get it.. Is it an idiom?

You have a terrible example of foot odor. Can I say like this?

What is the difference in meaning between "You have a foot odor" and "You have a bad case of foot odor"?

And can I change the word as well? From bad to good?

CalifJim · Answer

AppleFanboyIs it an idiom?

Yes. "to have a bad case of" is a fixed expression. You can't change the words. It means that whatever condition you have (mentioned after "of"), it is very extreme or serious.

CJ

Deadrat · Answer

"Case" means a particular instance, from the Latin casus, meaning the same thing. The word has a general meaning of happenstance:

Q: Why are you carrying an umbella?
A: In case it rains
Q: Do you think it will rain?
A: I don't know, but I'll be prepared in any case.

But "case" has taken on an idiomatic usage in three areas:

Medicine, to describe a particular bout of illness: "He had a case of the measles." And in fact, the narrative of a patient's encounters with disease is called a "case history."
Law, to describe the legal history of a particular law suit: "His case for negligence in last year's accident was decided in Superior Court just last week."
Police matters, to describe a particular investigation. "The neighbors' disputes became a police case when shots were fired." This has become a cliche in crime fiction, as titles often started "The Case of the," e.g., The Case of the Missing Strawberries.

As so often happens in English, another word with the same spelling comes to us from a different etymological source. In this case (See what I did there?), "case" may also mean a container, from the Latin capsus, meaning the same thing. The "p" got lost for this "case," but was retained in "capsule," which is used for a tiny container of medicine, among other things.

So when we have a case of missing strawberries, we might ask the police to investigate the theft, an activity which may become known as The Case of the Missing Strawberries.

In any event, the idiomatic usages don't describe happy occasions, so "good" isn't associated with them. The opposite obtains however. For a serious bout of illness, we would say "a bad case of the measles."

AppleFanboy · Answer

I really do appreciate your answers.

Now I grasped the meaning.

a bad case?

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