Episode 58 Ways To Describe Sickness Or Illness In English!

This week we're looking at lots of different idioms. These are idioms that are commonly used to describe illness, both in others and in ourselves. Often we don't know what is wrong with someone, but we can describe something about their behaviour or how we look, so you might hear these idioms being used in that way. This is the first week that I filmed all of the podcast episodes. If your provider doesn't allow you to watch the video episodes you can head over to the YouTube page to watch the episodes with subtitles if you'd rather. I hope you're having a great week. See you tomorrow! Vocabulary Keel Over She just keeled over. I feel like I might keel over. This is used to describe someone who has fainted or lost consciousness and just fallen or dropped to the ground. Burning Up He's burning up! As I mentioned in the podcast. In the UK we say 'He has a temperature' whereas in America they would be more likely to say 'He has a fever.' This idiom describes when we have a fever. It will commonly be used, like above, to describe how someone else feels when we touch them, rather than to describe ourselves. At death's door I feel like I'm at death's door. She looks like she's at death's door. This is used when we feel really really bad. We may or may not know what is wrong with us, but we know we feel bad. It is unlikely that we would use this when we are actually terminally ill. It's much more likely that we would use it as an exaggeration for cold or fever symptoms. Sick as a dog I'm as sick as a dog. You look as sick as a dog. Used in very similar situations to 'death's door', this means we feel really ill. Coming down with something As I mentioned there are several idioms that we use when we don't know exactly what is wrong with us, but we feel bad. Often this is when our symptoms are just starting so they might be used as excuses not to go to work or to an event. I think I'm coming down with something. I feel out of sorts. (This can be physical or mental, so you could use it if you feel sad.) I feel under the weather. She looks off colour. I don't know, I just feel off colour. Most of these would be used to describe yourself, but 'off colour' and 'out of sorts' could be used to describe someone else. Additional Vocabulary Hyperbole and Hyperbolic - we use these to describe words or sentences that are exaggerating. Trope - this is a word to describe a very particular situation or action that we see again and again in TV shows and movies. Below you can see a great example (I think from the Korean TV show 'Nevertheless') of a 'fall and catch', a very common trope in Asian dramas. The girl falls 'accidentally' from somewhere and the guy is there to catch her: que romantic moment (and possibly a kiss).🤣 #esl #english #englishidioms #englishvocabulary #emmaseslenglish #englishpodcast