When "falling over" becomes "having a fall"

[FatherFintanFay]

I tripped and fell on the pavement outside my office this morning - twisted my ankle, bruised my wrist, took all the skin off one knee, wrecked my tights, the works. I administered first aid to myself and mostly just felt very stupid and embarrassed, but I was interested by the reaction of a colleague who was nearby at the time. He said I'd "had a fall", and it just occurred to me that you usually hear it phrased that way when the faller is a bit elderly and frail. Everyone else just falls over.

I'm 40 - am I now officially in the category of people who need to be fussed over if I trip over my own feet, lest I break my hip?

Hmmm, I'm not sure there's a difference. Maybe you're thinking too much into it?

To me having a fall happens because you have balance issues, and fall in circumstances where someone would not normally be expected to fall. So normally used for elederly people. I used to 'have falls' when I was having chemo because I lost my balance and would just topple over for no reason. My mother had falls when she reched about 80 and she had to go to balance classes to help her avoid them.

Falling over is because you trip over something or lose your footing because something is slippy etc. I would say you fell over today.

Anyway I hope you are OK - having a fall and falling over can both shake you up a bit and you usually end up discovering bruises in unexpected places over the next few days !

I can empathise with this. A couple of years ago I tripped (shoe caught in a pothole) and broke my arm. But I'm in my 60s, so I did start thinking'Is this the beginning of the end?' until I pulled myself together and told myself sternly that my advanced age had nothing to do with my fall. It did worry my DD for a while too, thinking I was getting 'old'.

Kurri the wound on my knee was too large to be contained by a standard plaster so I had to use one of those sterile dressings with a bandage attached. It looks a little overdramatic tbh. But I felt it justified me in getting a pain au chocolat from the canteen, so there is that.

Yes - a fall (either having one or falling over) should always be treated with large doses of cake And if you go full on dramatic bandage then other people might be persuaded to buy the cake for you. If you're going to fall over and hurt yourself, you may as well reap the benefits afterwards is my motto

The office environment might have something to do with it. I think I might refer to a colleague as "having had a fall", rather than just saying "she fell over" - sounds like a proper professional fall then, not just a random stumble!!!!! Joking a bit, but I do think I'd be more likely to say it that way at work.

I think there are possibly 4 or 5 or more stages -

1. Tripped
2. Fell
3. Fell over
4. Stumbled
5. Took a tumble
6. Took a fall.
7. Had a fall
8. Suffered a fall
9. Sustained a fall

I think those are in order of age? 8 and 9 may be reversed ? Sorry got to 9! Think some may overlap. I am worryingly between 5 or 6 in others’ eyes I think. I want to stick at 3.

On a less frivolous note - keep an eye on the knee for swelling - a friend of mine got bursitis after falling onto her knee, very much hope yours heals asap with no problems but take things easy for a few days (now I sound as if I am talking to an old lady when you are considerably younger than me )

In my view it's always been about age. Up to the age of 50ish, you "fall over." 50+, you "have a fall".

First things comes to mind: "Send me a postcard", well, that's what my DH says whenever I trip over something...hope you're ok OP.

I was going to start a thread a few weeks ago about this too. I found myself saying I’d ‘had a fall’ and it made me feel about 90! I had tripped up, but basically over fresh air!

But I was thinking about the terminology and decided it wasn’t just for the elderly, but for occasions where the reason lies with the person rather than tripping over say a toy or something. So related to the persons balance or frailty

So I caught myself on and had ‘tripped over fresh air’ and instantly felt younger 🤣🤣

I agree with you. I used to work in A&E and the amount of people who would come in 'falling' playing tennis, tripping over a root when gardening for hours or doing any number of activities. As soon as they are 60+ we would have to do a full work up- bloods, ECG, urine dip, lying and standing blood pressure. People fall! If its unwitnessed/unexplained/no apparent cause/a collapse or happens multiple times of COURSE but for a simple slip or trip with no head injury I think sometimes its vastly over exaggerated!

I think it’s level of injury. If you’ve really hurt yourself, I’d say you had a fall. If you just tripped and fell I’d say you fell over.

In my view it's always been about age. Up to the age of 50ish, you "fall over." 50+, you "have a fall

52 here and @Bezalelle you’ve completely ruined my day

My Granny (a GP) referred to any type of fall at any time of life as “going A over T”. I think I prefer this (though I know what the OP means about definitions).

Heron I largely concur, but would say that "tripping" implies having a stumble but not actually hitting the deck.

I do see how the consequences can be more severe as you get older, as I used to do horse riding as a child and teenager, and I was forever falling off and landing on hard ground, jumps, other people etc. I used to just bounce back up and carry on. Now I would probably need a weekend of bed rest with somebody bringing me hot drinks. I would be thinking of my poor back

In a work environment I feel like ‘had a fall’ sounds more polite than ‘fell over’ - like if you have a fall it’s an unfortunate thing that’s happened to you and it doesn’t sound like it’s your fault, whereas fell over sounds more like you’re implying the person caused/did it. I’m not sure if I have explained it well!

I think the difference is whether you're able to get back up without assistance.

I have MS. I have noticed that falling over has become having a fall too😂. I don't have any MS related balance issues and once tripped over with my baby dd in my arms. I skilfully turned mid air to land on my arse and protect her. This was referred to "having a fall" until I explained it was the cat getting under my feet. Like normal people get with cats now and then.

Before I get lambasted for heartlessness, my mum had balance issues due to an age related illness which required careful management .
It's not funny.

DH "went flying" the other day when rushing... he went straight down, right outside a shop. He was so embarassed and our DC took great delight in sending him links to walking aids on Amazon.

He told everyone that he "slipped over". Shit, he's in denial isn't he

My mum is 70 and I still wouldn't say 'had a fall' or my dad at 73 either really...probably because they are very physically able for their age.

I think 'had a fall' implies frailty (or some reason that falling could be very damaging for them) so either the person is underweight/unwell/really old.

But also, overweight people. For example my friend is 20 stoneish and falling over could be quite damaging for her.

However, the fact that you were hurt quite a bit could also account for the way he phrased it.

Heron your ratings list is a work of art!

His phrase wasn’t quite right, agree that “had a fall” is usually used for the elderly or unwell, or people of any ages with mobility or balance issues. But agree with a PP that he might just be trying (but failing) to be diplomatic!

40 is definitely not “elderly” territory!

I agree with all comments in my 1-9 which was rather off the cuff. Stumbled I totally agree shouldn’t even be there as haven’t hit the deck.
On a slightly off note my lovely old ma died and fell (cause of death simply old age - just conked out). I think of her as one of ‘the fallen’ which itself has connotations of ww1 etc. Interesting usages.