Sickening
I heard it again today: someone complaining that they were nauseous. I had to giggle. You see, I used to use nauseous in this fashion too, until I discovered what it actually means:
Nauseous: Causing nausea; sickening (per dictionary.com)
So, when you complain of being nauseous, you are admitting that you are so repulsive that you sicken those around you - probably not what you meant.
If you’re feeling queasy, the correct term is nauseated. (Nauseated, interestingly, means both to feel and to cause nausea!)
I don’t mean to sound supercilious. I just want to educate the nauseous people of the world. Blech!
posted by Kasmira @ 7:52 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
know. it. all.
I had no idea!
When I was an English teacher in Japan and gave cruddy grammar lessons, my students would always say, "I'm so boring!"
I work with a certain individual who gets way too much mileage out of the word "ascertain." I grit my teeth when I see him, thinking, "Here it comes... its coming."
And then something like, "After ascertaining that the door was locked, I returned to the office for the key." will tumble out of his mouth.
I'm left thinking, "Oh! There is was! Aggh! The first 'ascertain' of the morning..."
I hear "ascertain" ad nauseum.
In the military, "orientate" was a favorite (non-)word used in land navigation. No wonder we were always lost.
Heard this morning on NPR, a quote from a man who volunteered for five seconds of being shocked with a taser during training, "I've had the gas and all that before and its' physically uncomfortable, but this leaves you completely disorientated."
I had no idea that I've been misusing it all this time! Thanks for setting me straight :)
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