David Czech
Member
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2012
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Czech
- Home Country
- Czech Republic
- Current Location
- Czech Republic
Hello,
I would like to ask a question about the word „grip“ / „grippe“ / „la grippe“ (= influenza).
According to The Collins English Dictionary (2003; all my references to all dictionaries are actually taken from The Free Dictionary – based on Collins etc.), the word is „a former name“ for influenza. In The Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary (2010) one can find a stylistic classification „older use“. The Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health (2003) calls it just a „popular term for influenza“ (not an old-fashioned one).
I came across the word in one short story by I. B. Singer (and I, therefore, guessed at first it would be a loanword from German – die Grippe – via Yiddish, of which German is a substantial component; the word has been, however, taken over from Old French, as I come to know now in the dictionaries).
And I would like to ask native speakers / English teachers a question: is the word still widely in use? Would you use it? Or is it better to avoid it?
Thanks
David
I would like to ask a question about the word „grip“ / „grippe“ / „la grippe“ (= influenza).
According to The Collins English Dictionary (2003; all my references to all dictionaries are actually taken from The Free Dictionary – based on Collins etc.), the word is „a former name“ for influenza. In The Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary (2010) one can find a stylistic classification „older use“. The Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health (2003) calls it just a „popular term for influenza“ (not an old-fashioned one).
I came across the word in one short story by I. B. Singer (and I, therefore, guessed at first it would be a loanword from German – die Grippe – via Yiddish, of which German is a substantial component; the word has been, however, taken over from Old French, as I come to know now in the dictionaries).
And I would like to ask native speakers / English teachers a question: is the word still widely in use? Would you use it? Or is it better to avoid it?
Thanks
David