kids feel sick

Status
Not open for further replies.

keannu

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
Does "feel sick" always mean "feel nausea" or can it sometimes mean "have a stomachache"?

ma22) Kids need a certain amount of vitamins and calcium each day to stay healthy. A glass of milk is an excellent source of them. But not all kids can digest milk. Milk makes some kids feel sick, or even throw up.
 

Gillnetter

Key Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Does "feel sick" always mean "feel nausea" or can it sometimes mean "have a stomachache"?

ma22) Kids need a certain amount of vitamins and calcium each day to stay healthy. A glass of milk is an excellent source of them. But not all kids can digest milk. Milk makes some kids feel sick, or even throw up.
"Feel sick" doesn't always mean to feel nauseous. I can feel sick and the symptoms can be: a headache, a fever, dizziness, and more. A child who cannot digest milk may have a stomach ache and a feeling of nausea, or they may have other symptoms.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
There's a slight AmE/BrE difference there. In BrE, if I say "I feel sick", it does mean that I feel as if I might vomit. If I have a headache or stomach ache or have the flu etc, I say "I feel ill".

If a child is lactose intolerant, then ingesting milk can have a few different effects - a rash, a runny nose, feeling nauseous and/or throwing up. In the context of the passage though, I would read "some kids feel sick" to mean "some kids feel as if they are going to vomit". Some them actually do vomit.
 

keannu

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
As 5jj always said, context does seem to matter. In this context, it seems "feeling as if you're going to vomit". I was translating like that to a person in front of me, but he stopped me, saying "It means "being sick"", Suddenly, I hesitated contradicting him, thinking he might be right.

But I'll tell him as emsr said, and also in other contexts in America, it could mean "generally being sick."
 

SoothingDave

VIP Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
"Feeling sick" could mean any type of cold or flu symptom. But in context here, talking about ingesting milk, it would mean that their stomachs or digestive system did not agree with the milk.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top