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AIBU?

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Original poster

Poorly

162 replies

Everythingisnumbersnow · 04/02/2025 09:48

Aibu to find it really annoying how English people use this word?

Sick. You mean sick. Unwell. Under the weather.

Unless the question is "how did Rangers perform?" and the answer is "lol poorly" it has no place in the English language.

OP posts:
ForeverDelayedEpiphany · 04/02/2025 15:21

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I'm quire educated and confident talking to medical professionals thank you. I don't care what language type that they use.😑

ForeverDelayedEpiphany · 04/02/2025 15:20

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Yeah, sure. I need to be infantalised. What's so bad about the word tummy or poorly?

KimberleyClark · 04/02/2025 15:14

Poorly appears in the Oxford Dictionary as meaning unwell so YABU.

SnoopysHoose · 04/02/2025 15:10

@Everythingisnumbersnow
At last!! I cannot stand it!
Dying of cancer; poorly
Sniffle; poorly
Leg amputated; poorly
It's like something the Famous 5 would say whilst munching jam pieces!

MeowCatPleaseMeowBack · 04/02/2025 15:01

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SoozyWoozy5 · 04/02/2025 14:52

I’m with you, I hate it!

ForeverDelayedEpiphany · 04/02/2025 14:51

MeowCatPleaseMeowBack · 04/02/2025 10:55

It's so infantile. It makes me cringe to see the NHS website and actual doctors referring to "tummies" because they have to cater to the lowest common denominator.

Maybe we all need to speak more formally... "My anus feels so sore today, I'm so unwell. Maybe I need to get it examined by a medical professional. I need my stomach to be well, I don't wish to vomit over anyone ...!" 😑😳🙈

BarbaraHoward · 04/02/2025 14:40

wholettheturnipsburn · 04/02/2025 12:42

Nah sick isn't American.

At work we have sick leave, sickness absence, etc.

I had to reflect on what term I use and I think I say "she's not well". Rather than sick

And I'm not saying noone uses it but I'm old and have never heard poorly used other than that English primary teacher.

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Come on now, you know the rule - every phrase a MNer doesn't use and doesn't like must be denounced as an Americanism.

BarbaraHoward · 04/02/2025 14:37

Ok, pay up, who had 14:15 for the first mention of "gotten"?

Anytimeisfine · 04/02/2025 14:32

GoldenLegend · 04/02/2025 14:15

It may be used in other English-speaking countries but it has entered use in England to mean ill via American television series, along with, for example, 'gotten' and the insertion of 'like' unnecessarily multiple times in a sentence.

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Gotten is widely used where I am in Ireland too, again not an Americanism. It never died out here as it did in many parts of the UK. It’s important to be aware also that it didn’t die out in all parts of the UK, for example NI and parts of Scotland. I’m not sure about England and Wales tbh, though usually on these types of threads someone pops in from Northern England or Cornwall or someplace to say their great granny always used it. It’s hard for a layperson to speak definitively about the dialects used in an entire country…

Meadowflower2023 · 04/02/2025 14:25

chelseahealyslips · 04/02/2025 10:17

There seems to be so many of these type of threads at the moment.
For goodness sake, just have a bloody day off from being annoyed about something so insignificant.
You might find you have a nicer, brighter day.

What she said ^

MegTheForgetfulCat · 04/02/2025 14:19

GoldenLegend · 04/02/2025 14:15

It may be used in other English-speaking countries but it has entered use in England to mean ill via American television series, along with, for example, 'gotten' and the insertion of 'like' unnecessarily multiple times in a sentence.

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"Gotten" is used in Ireland as well. It's disliked on MN but is not incorrect.

"Like" as a filler word is a bit annoying but have you, er, noticed how, er, people from older generations use, um, different filler words but they, er, have the same, um, effect?

User1786 · 04/02/2025 14:18

I hate it, it just sounds so pathetic! But I know I’m in the minority. Family is not English so never heard it growing up.

EasternStandard · 04/02/2025 14:17

Well I'm afraid that is where you are wrong

Haha at this response

I agree on poorly

GoldenLegend · 04/02/2025 14:15

Anytimeisfine · 04/02/2025 12:02

That may be true regarding ‘sick’ where you are, but it’s certainly not true everywhere.
It’s not an Americanism.

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It may be used in other English-speaking countries but it has entered use in England to mean ill via American television series, along with, for example, 'gotten' and the insertion of 'like' unnecessarily multiple times in a sentence.

ItGhoul · 04/02/2025 13:13

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RaraRachael · 04/02/2025 13:10

Dearg · 04/02/2025 12:39

Absolutely. Or ‘Nae Weel’ if it’s serious

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Love both of those.
Also if someone has a funny turn, they've had a "parrywabble"

My daughter works with a lot of nurses from other countries and they love learning new Doric words 😁

MeowCatPleaseMeowBack · 04/02/2025 12:55

ruethewhirl · 04/02/2025 11:36

But why? I've never understood it. It's a baby word.

People are allowed to dislike specific words and to say so, btw.

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The NHS uses infantile words like "poorly" and "tummy" because their language has to be accessible to people with very poor(ly) vocabulary.

Beetrooty · 04/02/2025 12:54

It does make sense though
'How are you Doing?' can be answered:
'Well'
or
'Poorly '

DanceMumTaxi · 04/02/2025 12:52

It’s in the dictionary as a perfectly acceptable use of the word ‘poorly’. There nothing wrong with it.

wholettheturnipsburn · 04/02/2025 12:47

Lanawashington · 04/02/2025 10:31

A poster on a thread about herpes the other day said that someone had a poorly vulva. That was a new one I've not heard before

WTF. A presumably sane adult 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

HousedInMySoul · 04/02/2025 12:44

Poorly is a normal word where I live (mainly working class area of the North of England), which explains why there's so much snobbery about it from some people. However, we will continue to use it, even if it makes you 'sick to your stomach' 🤪

wholettheturnipsburn · 04/02/2025 12:42

GoldenLegend · 04/02/2025 11:12

‘Sick’ to mean ‘ill’ is an American usage that was virtually unknown when I was a child but is now common. Why do you find it necessary to criticise the way others use their language?

Nah sick isn't American.

At work we have sick leave, sickness absence, etc.

I had to reflect on what term I use and I think I say "she's not well". Rather than sick

And I'm not saying noone uses it but I'm old and have never heard poorly used other than that English primary teacher.

Whoarethoseguys · 04/02/2025 12:40

Whoarethoseguys · 04/02/2025 12:35

Why does it matter to you.? Poorly is a perfectly acceptable term to mean unwell. It has been used to mean unwell for generations. My mother who would be over 100 now would never say unwell or ill always poorly. So it's not a new use of the word.
Everyone knows what it means and language is for communicating

And we would never use the term sick for unwell or ill. That means to vomit.

Dearg · 04/02/2025 12:39

Annoyingsquirrels · 04/02/2025 11:36

I prefer peely-wally

Absolutely. Or ‘Nae Weel’ if it’s serious