off-color

[ostap77]

We use "off-color" when it's not the right color or it's on the verge of indecency. Can we say " I feel off-color."?

 

[corum]

Can we say " I feel off-color."?

Yes.

 

[corum]

Can we say " I feel off-color."?

Incorrect punctuation.

Try this:
Can we say "I feel off-color?"

 

[Barb_D]

I'm the US, "off-color" usually means slightly dirty or inappropriate. This joke is a bit off-color. Will anyone be offended?

Also, you would not put the ? inside the " because the question was not part of what was being quoted. The question had to do with whether was was being quoted was appropriate.


Are you the person they call "Subway"?

 

[riquecohen]

We use "off-color" when it's not the right color or it's on the verge of indecency. Can we say " I feel off-color."?

I've never heard it used like this. How do you feel when you "feel off-color"?

 

[ostap77]

No - you can't feel off color. Your behavior can be off color. The movie can be off color.

I knew that besically it means that one's ,shall we say, behavior can be a bit off-color but what would it mean "I feel a bit off-color"? It's part of the expressions we were given at University to learn by heart.

 

[Barb_D]

I would ask the person at the university. It's not a standard expression and most people wouldn't know what you meant.

 

[Munch]

I knew that besically it means that one's ,shall we say, behavior can be a bit off-color but what would it mean "I feel a bit off-color"? It's part of the expressions we were given at University to learn by heart.

It means you feel a bit sick. Maybe it is more common in British English.

 

[corum]

No - you can't feel off color. Your behavior can be off color. The movie can be off color.

3. not in one's usual health: to feel off-color.

Off-color | Define Off-color at Dictionary.com ;-)

Most students, from my bitter experience, are unduly native-nonnative conscious. (see the thank you's)

 

[Rover_KE]

No - you can't feel off color.

You certainly can.

I'm feeling off-colour right now.

Rover:-(

 

[Barb_D]

No - you can't feel off color.

You certainly can.

I'm feeling off-colour right now.

Rover:-(

But Rover, what does that mean?

In the US, we wouldn't quite understand, thinking perhaps you felt like you needed to tell dirty jokes or pinch women's bottoms.

Does it mean "slightly ill" in the UK or something similar? (If so, I'm sorry you feel that way.)

 

[Rover_KE]

Does it mean "slightly ill" in the UK or something similar? (If so, I'm sorry you feel that way.)

Thanks, Barb. It's probably something I ate.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:

off-colour

▶adjective

• 1 Brit. slightly unwell.

Rover

 

[Barb_D]

Thanks. Clearly, not used in the US that way.

Feel better soon.