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JCDenton Posted 18 years ago
Vocabulary
idiom: be out of sorts
Hi guys,
Can you please help me with how to use this idiom? I learned this phrase during the translation of one episode of Cold Case. It means feel slightly ill or slightly unhappy. But guys, if you look at these two definitions you should agree with me that they're absolutely different. To be frank, I don't know how to use it in the normal life....Just imagine the situation, that someone invited you for the party and you're excusing yourself from that party, for example via email, where you wrote: "Sorry, I can't come to your party. I feel a little out of sorts. ". How that other person will distinguish what your feelings are? I mean, how can he determine whether you feel really slightly ill or just not in the mood to celebrating something...????
many thanks in advance, that idiom seems to be used very widely, so I want to learn it.
Best Regards
JCD
Can you please help me with how to use this idiom? I learned this phrase during the translation of one episode of Cold Case. It means feel slightly ill or slightly unhappy. But guys, if you look at these two definitions you should agree with me that they're absolutely different. To be frank, I don't know how to use it in the normal life....Just imagine the situation, that someone invited you for the party and you're excusing yourself from that party, for example via email, where you wrote: "Sorry, I can't come to your party. I feel a little out of sorts. ". How that other person will distinguish what your feelings are? I mean, how can he determine whether you feel really slightly ill or just not in the mood to celebrating something...????
many thanks in advance, that idiom seems to be used very widely, so I want to learn it.
Best Regards
JCD
Top answer
Without modification, it is interpreted as slightly ill. To get the slightly unhappy idea across, you would need to add something like out of sorts with the world, out of sorts with that bunch. So, they aren't really as unrelated as one might think at first.
- Without modification, it is interpreted as slightly ill.
- To get the slightly unhappy idea across, you would need to add something like out of sorts with the world, out of sorts with that bunch.
- So, they aren't really as unrelated as one might think at first.
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6 Answers
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Without modification, it is interpreted as slightly ill. To get the slightly unhappy idea across, you would need to add something like out of sorts with the world, out of sorts with that bunch. So, they aren't really as unrelated as one might think at first.
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I wouldn't use it as an excuse for not going to a party, but more likely as an excuse for getting impatient, annoyed, or mad at someone inappropriately. It's more like being in a bad mood. "Sorry I snapped at you -- I'm really just out of sorts today. Forgive me?" Or "Why are you so out of sorts today? You're finding fault with everybody. Did you get up on the wrong side of bed?" (an
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Many thanks khoff for your note...that's interesting.....
...:-)..We've very similar expression in my country for it...We say: "Did you get up with your left foot today?"
thanks again.
Greetings to C
khoff....Did you get up on the wrong side of bed?" (another expression for being in a bad mood for no apparent reason.)...
...:-)..We've very similar expression in my country for it...We say: "Did you get up with your left foot today?"
thanks again.
Greetings to C
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feel indisposed
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1 : being usually temporarily in poor physical health; especially : somewhat unwell usually temporarily <refused to see him because, she said, she felt indisposed>
2 : not being in the proper disposition for something :
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1 : being usually temporarily in poor physical health; especially : somewhat unwell usually temporarily <refused to see him because, she said, she felt indisposed>
2 : not being in the proper disposition for something :
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to be not quite with it, a kind of discomfort with the current situation/people/environment.
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