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EyeSeeYou Posted 19 years ago
Vocabulary

To be sick/ to feel sick

0In British English there's a difference between those two: to be sick = to vomit; to feel sick = to not feel well.02br
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00So, if I say "I am sick", does it actually mean 01u00I'm vomiting02u00 or 01u00I'm about to vomit02u00? 0-
  

Top answer

0Hello EyeSeeYou,02br 02br 00actually I've never heard about this 'to be sick = to vomit', plus everytime people said to me "I'm sick" they meant: "I don't feel fine". 02br 02br 00Maybe some native speakers could tell something more about it 050010id1

— Francesca

  • 0Hello EyeSeeYou,02br 02br 00actually I've never heard about this 'to be sick = to vomit', plus everytime people said to me "I'm sick" they meant: "I don't feel fine".
  • 02br 02br 00Maybe some native speakers could tell something more about it 050010id1
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8 Answers
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0Hello EyeSeeYou,02br
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00actually I've never heard about this 'to be sick = to vomit', plus everytime people said to me "I'm sick" they meant: "I don't feel fine". Anyway I know that to be sick can have many other meanings when referred to something in particular as: to be sick for home (to miss home), to be sick at heart (to get disheartened) ...02br
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01cite10EyeSeeYou12cite10So, if I say "I am sick", does it actually mean 11u10I'm vomiting12u10 or 11u10I'm about to vomit12u10? 12br
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10Yes, 'to be sick' can also mean 'to vomit' or 'feel ready to vomit'. In the latter situation, people often say 'I'm
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0American English uses 'sick' in the general sense of ill, unwell, not British English. 02br
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00In British English to be sick = to vomit; to feel sick = to feel as though you are about to/likely to vomit. It doesn't apply to generally not feeling well.0-
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0 To add to Nona's post: in the UK, we'd say "I don't feel very well" or "I feel poorly" where an AmE user might say "I feel sick". If we're talking about someone else, we would say "He's off work because he's ill" or "...he's not well". 0-
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0 So, if someone says 01b00"I'm sick"02b00 (in BrE), it literally means they are puking/vomiting right now? 0-
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01cite10EyeSeeYou12cite10So, if someone says 11b10"I'm sick"12b10 (in BrE), it literally means they are puking/vomiting right now?12blockquote
10Firstly, they wouldn't really feel like saying it (or even be able to do so) at that very moment, would they? They would normally say it before, 'I'm
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Conchita5712cite11blockquote
11cite20EyeSeeYou22cite20So, if someone says 21b20"I'm sick"22b20 (in BrE), it literally means they are puking/vomiting right now?22blockquote
20Firstly, they wouldn't really feel like saying it (or even be able to do s
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Hi there,

I'm a British Nurse and English Teacher. I write a medical English blog, so hope this helps. The link below will answer your question. Enjoy

http://realmedicalenglish.blogspot.com/2011/11/sick.html
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