CAMBRIDGE
ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE ADVANCED
UNIT 52
Illness: feeling under the weather
A
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Feeling
unwell
Some informal expressions that mean
‘not well, but not seriously ill’.
A: You look a bit off-colour today.
Are you all right?
B: I’m just feeling a bit out of
sorts, it’s nothing to worry about.
I was feeling a bit under the
weather, so I stayed at home yesterday.
Katy’s been feeling poorly for
a while.
I’m fighting off a cold at the
moment. [trying to get rid of]
Rani isn’t in today; she’s gone
down with flu. [has caught, usually a non-serious illness]
I’m not going to work today. I’ve come
down with a dreadful cold. (we usually say come down, not go
down with, when talking about ourselves)
Harry suffers from hay fever
and sneezes a lot if he’s near grass or flowers. [used for more long-term problems]
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B
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Minor health problems
Note
that hurt is different from ache:
My
arm hurts where I banged it against the car door. [gives pain caused
by an injury]
My
back aches after all that digging yesterday. [persistent low-level
pain]
The
fixed expression (the usual) aches and pains is often used to refer in
a non-serious way to minor problems: Mum’s feeling fine, apart from the usual
aches and pains (NOT pains and aches).
The
fixed expression cuts and bruises can refer to minor injuries: Jason
had a few cuts and bruises when he fell off his bike, nothing serious
(NOT bruises and cuts).
Some
other kinds of physical discomfort:
My
hand’s been stinging ever since I touched that plant. [sudden, burning
pain]
My
head is throbbing. [beating with pain]
I
have a stiff neck from sitting in a draught yesterday. [pain and
difficulty in moving your neck round]
She
tripped on the uneven pavement and twisted her ankle. [injured by turning
it suddenly]
I
feel a bit dizzy. I think I should sit down. [a feeling that you are
spinning round and can’t balance]
She
was a bit feverish this morning, so I told her to stay in bed. [with a
high temperature/fever]
I
feel quite shivery / hot and cold. I think I must have a
temperature. [shaking slightly, usually because of a fever]
I’ve
had a lot of sleepless nights recently. [without sleeping much]
I
had a terrible nauseous feeling after taking the medicine, but it
passed. [/nɔziəs/ feeling that you want to vomit]
He
was trembling all over; I knew it must be something serious. [shaking]
My
nose is all bunged up today with this horrible cold. [blocked; informal]
Language
help
You
can call a physical pain a dull/nagging/ throbbing ache but the
noun hurt refers to emotional pain, e.g. The break-up of their relationship
caused them both deep hurt.
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C
|
Getting better
I
had a virus last week, but I got over it quite quickly. [got better,
recovered]
Jo’s
recovering from a major operation. [getting better: used for more
serious illnesses]
Dan
felt terrible last week, but he’s on the mend now. [getting better]
It’s
taking Hania some time to recover from her accident, but she’s over the
worst now. [past the most difficult period]
She’ll
be back on her feet again soon. [fully healthy again]
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EXERCISES
52.1
|
Correct
the mistakes in these sentences.
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52.2
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Rewrite
the underlined parts of these sentences using words and phrases from B
opposite.
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52.3
|
Sort
these everyday phrasal verbs and expressions connected with health and
illness into two groups, depending on whether they have positive or negative
meanings with regard to health.
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52.4
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Now
fill the gaps using expressions from 52.3.
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ANSWER KEY
52.1
1 She was feeling under the
weather and a bit feverish, so she took the day off.
2 I felt really off-colour yesterday and my head was throbbing, so I took a painkiller. 3 I felt a bit out of sorts and seemed to have more aches and pains than usual. 4 Maria has backache after carrying that heavy suitcase of yours. 5 Freddie has been fighting off a cold for the last few days. 6 I’m sorry I won’t make it to your party because I’ve come down with flu. 7 Do you suffer from any allergies? 8 How did you get all those cuts and bruises?
52.2
1 I was feeling quite feverish.
2 The smell of paint always made her feel nauseous. 3 I felt dizzy, so I went and lay down for an hour. 4 My nose was bunged up, so I got a spray from the chemist. 5 I got a stiff neck from driving for a long time in an awkward position. 6 Laura was shivery and looked unwell, so I told her to go to bed. 7 My knee hurts today because I twisted it getting out of Andrei’s sports car yesterday. 8 I had a sleepless night last night.
52.3
Positive meanings: be over the worst, fight off*, be on the mend, be back on
your feet again, get over
Negative meanings: suffer from, fight off*, come down with, under the weather *Whether you consider fight off to be positive or negative depends on whether you feel that ‘fighting something off’ is always used in a negative situation, or whether you are succeeding in ‘fighting off’ your cold/flu/headache, etc., in which case you might see it as positive.
52.4
1 Hello, Dan, good to see you back
on your feet again.
2 Nadja, I won’t be in today, I’ve come down with a cold. 3 Oh, I’m OK. I’m over the worst now. I still feel bad, but I should be out within a week or so. (over the worst suggests getting better, but that you are still quite ill; on the mend (see 6 below) suggests the person is getting back to normal health) 4 Don’t worry, darling. Everyone has a cold now and then. You’ll get over it. 5 I’m trying to fight off the flu, but nothing seems to help. I don’t think I’ll be at work tomorrow. 6 Lily was quite ill last week, but she’s on the mend / back on her feet again now and should be back at work on Monday. 7 I feel a bit under the weather today, but I’m sure I’ll be fine tomorrow. 8 I used to suffer from a dust allergy, but I don’t think I do any more. |
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