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#Post#: 17344--------------------------------------------------
To be taken ill
By: Nikola Date: July 1, 2019, 7:43 am
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I'm putting together some vocabulary for my student who works in
a pharmacy. I just stumbled upon "to be taken ill" and hesitated
for a second. I know people use it in formal settings, I've
heard them use it and I know that it means "to suddenly become
ill/unwell". I'm just wondering if the pharmacy is the kind of
place where someone would use it. "My wife was taken ill, could
I have...?" It would be very helpful if people from both the US
and UK (SuKi?) could tell me, because she gets customers from
all parts of the world.
Thank you!
#Post#: 17347--------------------------------------------------
Re: To be taken ill
By: Truman Overby Date: July 1, 2019, 8:27 am
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I know the phrase, of course, but I can't say that I've ever
actually heard anyone say 'taken ill.' I'm not sure what you
mean by a formal sertting. A dinner party, perhaps? Nope, I've
never heard it said in any setting. In my opinion it's too
haughty at worst and awkward at best. I've read it a few times.
In the pharmacy you'd say simply that you're sick or your kid is
sick. More precisely, we describe the symptoms. I hadn't thought
about it but isn't that what people all over the world do? "Hi
Doc, junior was up barfing all night after eating Aunt Erma's
potato salad at our picnic yesterday. You got anything for him?"
Now that I think about it, I can think of times when it might be
appropriate to say took ill. For example, at a funeral
explaining to strangers or people you don't know well, what
happened to the decedent. "He took ill on the flight and never
recovered." It's not used a lot, in my opinion. Maybe others
elsewhere in the world use it regularly. I really don't know.
#Post#: 17350--------------------------------------------------
Re: To be taken ill
By: NealC Date: July 1, 2019, 9:39 am
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It is mostly archaic, used in a time when to get ill was often
to be 'taken' by it -- as in dead. Usually used for a serious
condition that might take a while to recover from, but I think
that distinction is lost today.
If he is in the pharmacy/medical business he should know it,
especially in the US rural south where it might still be used.
it is interesting, when I try to say the phrase out loud I
unconsciously put a rural or southern accent on it. That is how
I have heard it most often.
#Post#: 17353--------------------------------------------------
Re: To be taken ill
By: SuKi Date: July 1, 2019, 11:13 am
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We tend to use 'be taken ill' in fairly formal
non-medicalcontexts e.g. 'Professor A has had to cancel her
lecture at the Economics Institute because she has been taken
ill'. It suggests that no more information is going to be given
about her condition. This is because it's not relevant, not
appropriate or none of our business. We're in the realms of
polite euphemisms - usually concerning the elderly - when we
talk about people being taken ill. You would never talk about a
child being taken ill, and I can't imagine it being used for a
young person (or by a young person).
I wouldn't use it in a pharmacy situation because it's not
informative enough.'Taken ill' is fine if your job is to find a
replacement lecturer, not if you need to prescribe medication.
I'd go straight in and explain exactly what the problem is.
#Post#: 17356--------------------------------------------------
Re: To be taken ill
By: Nikola Date: July 1, 2019, 2:32 pm
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Thank you, Jerry and Neal. I've never actually heard the word
barf. I know vomit, puke, throw up or be sick. It sounds like an
onomatopoeic word (reminds you of the vomiting sound).
Thanks SuKi, that makes perfect sense. I did wonder why it
sounded weird when I thought of the sentence "my child was taken
ill".
#Post#: 17364--------------------------------------------------
Re: To be taken ill
By: Susan Date: July 1, 2019, 7:11 pm
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I´ve heard people of my grandmother´s generation, and in her
town say it, but I think they usually said ¨he has taken ill¨
more often than he ¨was taken ill.¨ I think people in my
grandmother´s rural area did not use very good English though.
A professor made this poem from excuses he has received. It
might be fun to discuss with your student.
HTML https://www.lclark.edu/live/news/13924-i-regret-to-inform-you-that-i-have-taken-ill/chronicle/details/story-afterword.php
#Post#: 17367--------------------------------------------------
Re: To be taken ill
By: Truman Overby Date: July 1, 2019, 8:20 pm
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[quote author=Nikola link=topic=1192.msg17356#msg17356
date=1562009565]
Thank you, Jerry and Neal. I've never actually heard the word
barf. I know vomit, puke, throw up or be sick. It sounds like an
onomatopoeic word (reminds you of the vomiting sound).
Thanks SuKi, that makes perfect sense. I did wonder why it
sounded weird when I thought of the sentence "my child was taken
ill".
[/quote]
Two other handy words for vomiting are upchuck and hurl. Thought
you might like to know. :D
#Post#: 17373--------------------------------------------------
Re: To be taken ill
By: SuKi Date: July 2, 2019, 12:50 am
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[quote author=Susan link=topic=1192.msg17364#msg17364
date=1562026268]
I´ve heard people of my grandmother´s generation, and in her
town say it, but I think they usually said ¨he has taken ill¨
more often than he ¨was taken ill.¨ I think people in my
grandmother´s rural area did not use very good English though.
That's interesting. Susan's grandmother's generation's version
seems to be a different construction. I've never come across the
active form 'He has taken ill' : like 'He has fallen ill', it's
suggesting it's something that you've done rather than something
that's happened to you. I've looked in a few dictionaries and
only the Free Dictionary has this meaning. The Merriam Webster
has 'take sick' but not 'take ill' ( then helpfully suggests
that perhaps I meant 'anthill' or 'cranesbill'! ). Meanwhile,
the Collins has 'take ill' meaning be offended.
The active form 'take ill' is more logical, of course: it's hard
to see who or what is doing the 'taking' in the passive 'He's
been taken ill'. It's an odd phrase, when you think about it.
#Post#: 17374--------------------------------------------------
Re: To be taken ill
By: SuKi Date: July 2, 2019, 12:59 am
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You probably know this already, Nikola, but 'be sick' only means
'throw up' in BrE.
"I was sick yesterday" (AmE) = Stative verb, meaning "I wasn't
well", in general terms
"I was sick yesterday" (BrE) = Active verb, meaning "I threw
up" ( but may otherwise have been fine - only refers to a
single incident).
Here's another one for the list... 'chunder'.
#Post#: 17375--------------------------------------------------
Re: To be taken ill
By: SHL Date: July 2, 2019, 1:23 am
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[quote author=Nikola link=topic=1192.msg17344#msg17344
date=1561984986]
I'm putting together some vocabulary for my student who works in
a pharmacy. I just stumbled upon "to be taken ill" and hesitated
for a second. I know people use it in formal settings, I've
heard them use it and I know that it means "to suddenly become
ill/unwell". I'm just wondering if the pharmacy is the kind of
place where someone would use it. "My wife was taken ill, could
I have...?" It would be very helpful if people from both the US
and UK (SuKi?) could tell me, because she gets customers from
all parts of the world.
Thank you!
[/quote]
Nikola, I agree with Neal, it sounds like it’s out of the 1920s,
or better yet, a newspaper from 1887 in Missouri. “Has your wife
or husband taken ill with dropsy? Go to Geo. Long Druggist on
Main Street and use Mr. Long’s special spider extract.
Guaranteed cure!”
Or better yet. A newspaper from say Ohio in 1903 “Taken ill with
a cough? Try this non-addictive miracle drug from Germany,
available at Geo. Johnson & Sons Druggist, Jackson Street”:
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