Is it rude?

[Anglika]

Originally Posted by ficklefiend

Oh dear that is.. descriptive.

If I'm calling work or something I'll say "upset stomach", that's a more polite euphemism. Saying you have the runs isn't rude, just more vulgar.

Itmight be less explicit when talking to the office, but an upset stomach will not necessarily mean the same thing. "The runs" is very specific and I would say pretty commonly used without being vulgar.

[Disaster Master]

I’d like to ask about the origin of the implication of this slang expression.

Does it come from RUN; either as a verb or as a noun, because when someone suffers from diarrhea s/he usually runs to toilet to do it.

[ladybird987]

Can you possibly think of any other explanation?

[anatole nozière]

Yes, it's rude. It refers to the consistency of the excreta. And, as such, is not mentionable by polite people. The aunt referred to in a previous reply had given a peculiarly noisome coloration (hardly a euphemism) to the standard, now obsolete, English expression "the squirts," which "the runs" is rather an elaboration upon than a euphemism for. Say "diarrhea" or don't say it at all.

[Anglika]

Originally Posted by anatole nozière

Yes, it's rude. It refers to the consistency of the excreta. And, as such, is not mentionable by polite people. The aunt referred to in a previous reply had given a peculiarly noisome coloration (hardly a euphemism) to the standard, now obsolete, English expression "the squirts," which "the runs" is rather an elaboration upon than a euphemism for. Say "diarrhea" or don't say it at all.

What post are you replying to?

And many people would prefer to use the colloquialism, which they find less embarrassing.

[stuartnz]

I agree with Anglika. The phrase "the runs" is a colloquialism that would NOT be thought of as vulgar by many native speakers. Informal, definitely, but not rude or vulgar. I personally would not use it a business setting, but that's because of its informality, not out of any fear of giving offence. I would feel comfortable using it in conversation if I was talknig with a business colleague I knew well from long acquaintance.

[anatole nozière]

I was replying to Heger47's original question--I thought, the original in this thread--"Is it rude to say that one, or someone, has 'the runs'?" I wasn't addressing the question of "embarrassing," but rather the question of "rudeness." It is unspeakably, nauseatingly, vilely rude (indecent and improper) to refer to the consistency of one's own or anybody else's excreta, as one does, perforce, in using the nasty vulgarism "the runs." Of course, that is exactly what is referred to, under cover of "the decent obscurity of a learned tongue," with the word "diarrhea," which means in Greek, "a flowing through." So, I suggest, outside of a discussion with one's doctor, we don't mention it at all. An "upset stomach" is the most that well-bred persons need ever admit to publicly.

[Anglika]

I think you are making too much of this - the consensus is that it is not rude and that it is quite acceptable. No-one will be able to stop the use of euphemism or colloquialism. Life would become altogether too serious is everyone had to use the "proper" word for something on all occasions.

[monty mike]

To say you have 'the runs' is certainly not considered rude.

[bhaisahab]

Originally Posted by monty mike

To say you have 'the runs' is certainly not considered rude.

I find it vulgar, personally I wouldn't use it, and I don't like to hear it, but hey, people speak how they want to speak.