Author Topic: To be taken ill (Read 1306 times)

Nikola · « **on:** July 01, 2019, 12:43:06 pm »

I'm putting together some vocabulary for my student who works in a pharmacy. I just stumbled upon "to be taken ill" and hesitated for a second. I know people use it in formal settings, I've heard them use it and I know that it means "to suddenly become ill/unwell". I'm just wondering if the pharmacy is the kind of place where someone would use it. "My wife was taken ill, could I have...?" It would be very helpful if people from both the US and UK (SuKi?) could tell me, because she gets customers from all parts of the world.

Thank you!

Truman Overby · « **Reply #1 on:** July 01, 2019, 01:27:38 pm »

I know the phrase, of course, but I can't say that I've ever actually heard anyone say 'taken ill.' I'm not sure what you mean by a formal sertting. A dinner party, perhaps? Nope, I've never heard it said in any setting. In my opinion it's too haughty at worst and awkward at best. I've read it a few times. In the pharmacy you'd say simply that you're sick or your kid is sick. More precisely, we describe the symptoms. I hadn't thought about it but isn't that what people all over the world do? "Hi Doc, junior was up barfing all night after eating Aunt Erma's potato salad at our picnic yesterday. You got anything for him?"

Now that I think about it, I can think of times when it might be appropriate to say took ill. For example, at a funeral explaining to strangers or people you don't know well, what happened to the decedent. "He took ill on the flight and never recovered." It's not used a lot, in my opinion. Maybe others elsewhere in the world use it regularly. I really don't know.

NealC · « **Reply #2 on:** July 01, 2019, 02:39:27 pm »

It is mostly archaic, used in a time when to get ill was often to be 'taken' by it -- as in dead. Usually used for a serious condition that might take a while to recover from, but I think that distinction is lost today.
If he is in the pharmacy/medical business he should know it, especially in the US rural south where it might still be used.

it is interesting, when I try to say the phrase out loud I unconsciously put a rural or southern accent on it. That is how I have heard it most often.

SuKi · « **Reply #3 on:** July 01, 2019, 04:13:14 pm »

We tend to use 'be taken ill' in fairly formal non-medicalcontexts e.g. 'Professor A has had to cancel her lecture at the Economics Institute because she has been taken ill'. It suggests that no more information is going to be given about her condition. This is because it's not relevant, not appropriate or none of our business. We're in the realms of polite euphemisms - usually concerning the elderly - when we talk about people being taken ill. You would never talk about a child being taken ill, and I can't imagine it being used for a young person (or by a young person).

I wouldn't use it in a pharmacy situation because it's not informative enough.'Taken ill' is fine if your job is to find a replacement lecturer, not if you need to prescribe medication. I'd go straight in and explain exactly what the problem is.

Nikola · « **Reply #4 on:** July 01, 2019, 07:32:45 pm »

Thank you, Jerry and Neal. I've never actually heard the word barf. I know vomit, puke, throw up or be sick. It sounds like an onomatopoeic word (reminds you of the vomiting sound).

Thanks SuKi, that makes perfect sense. I did wonder why it sounded weird when I thought of the sentence "my child was taken ill".

Susan · « **Reply #5 on:** July 02, 2019, 12:11:08 am »

I´ve heard people of my grandmother´s generation, and in her town say it, but I think they usually said ¨he has taken ill¨ more often than he ¨was taken ill.¨ I think people in my grandmother´s rural area did not use very good English though.

A professor made this poem from excuses he has received. It might be fun to discuss with your student.

I Regret to Inform You That I Have Taken Ill

Will Pritchard, assistant professor of English, specializes in 17th- and 18th-century British literature. His book, Outward Appearances: The Femal...

lclark.edu

Truman Overby · « **Reply #6 on:** July 02, 2019, 01:20:53 am »

Quote from: Nikola on July 01, 2019, 07:32:45 pm

Thank you, Jerry and Neal. I've never actually heard the word barf. I know vomit, puke, throw up or be sick. It sounds like an onomatopoeic word (reminds you of the vomiting sound).

Thanks SuKi, that makes perfect sense. I did wonder why it sounded weird when I thought of the sentence "my child was taken ill".

Two other handy words for vomiting are upchuck and hurl. Thought you might like to know.

SuKi · « **Reply #7 on:** July 02, 2019, 05:50:30 am »

Quote from: Susan on July 02, 2019, 12:11:08 am

I´ve heard people of my grandmother´s generation, and in her town say it, but I think they usually said ¨he has taken ill¨ more often than he ¨was taken ill.¨ I think people in my grandmother´s rural area did not use very good English though.
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That's interesting. Susan's grandmother's generation's version seems to be a different construction. I've never come across the active form 'He has taken ill' : like 'He has fallen ill', it's suggesting it's something that you've done rather than something that's happened to you. I've looked in a few dictionaries and only the Free Dictionary has this meaning. The Merriam Webster has 'take sick' but not 'take ill' ( then helpfully suggests that perhaps I meant 'anthill' or 'cranesbill'! ). Meanwhile, the Collins has 'take ill' meaning be offended.

The active form 'take ill' is more logical, of course: it's hard to see who or what is doing the 'taking' in the passive 'He's been taken ill'. It's an odd phrase, when you think about it.

SuKi · « **Reply #8 on:** July 02, 2019, 05:59:23 am »

You probably know this already, Nikola, but 'be sick' only means 'throw up' in BrE.

"I was sick yesterday" (AmE) = Stative verb, meaning "I wasn't well", in general terms
"I was sick yesterday" (BrE) = Active verb, meaning "I threw up" ( but may otherwise have been fine - only refers to a single incident).

Here's another one for the list... 'chunder'.

SHL · « **Reply #9 on:** July 02, 2019, 06:23:55 am »

Quote from: Nikola on July 01, 2019, 12:43:06 pm

I'm putting together some vocabulary for my student who works in a pharmacy. I just stumbled upon "to be taken ill" and hesitated for a second. I know people use it in formal settings, I've heard them use it and I know that it means "to suddenly become ill/unwell". I'm just wondering if the pharmacy is the kind of place where someone would use it. "My wife was taken ill, could I have...?" It would be very helpful if people from both the US and UK (SuKi?) could tell me, because she gets customers from all parts of the world.

Thank you!

Nikola, I agree with Neal, it sounds like it’s out of the 1920s, or better yet, a newspaper from 1887 in Missouri. “Has your wife or husband taken ill with dropsy? Go to Geo. Long Druggist on Main Street and use Mr. Long’s special spider extract. Guaranteed cure!”

Or better yet. A newspaper from say Ohio in 1903 “Taken ill with a cough? Try this non-addictive miracle drug from Germany, available at Geo. Johnson & Sons Druggist, Jackson Street”:

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SuKi · « **Reply #10 on:** July 02, 2019, 06:33:43 am »

Looking at the answers from Neal, Jerry, Susan and Steven, it seems that we actually have two different expressions here:

Take ill = only AmE. Very rarely used any more. Sounds either archaic or rural.

Be taken ill = only BrE. Slightly old-fashioned but still in use, especially in polite non-medical contexts.

Thoughts, anyone?

SHL · « **Reply #11 on:** July 02, 2019, 06:46:28 am »

Quote from: SuKi on July 02, 2019, 06:33:43 am

Looking at the answers from Neal, Jerry, Susan and Steven, it seems that we actually have two different expressions here:

Take ill = only AmE. Very rarely used any more. Sounds either archaic or rural.

Be taken ill = only BrE. Slightly old-fashioned but still in use, especially in polite non-medical contexts.

Thoughts, anyone?

SuKi,

I can’t disagree. If someone were to say they had taken ill, this sort of image would come to mind:

I must say the Germans have given us some great pharmaceuticals

Nikola · « **Reply #12 on:** July 02, 2019, 08:20:38 am »

Quote from: SuKi on July 02, 2019, 06:33:43 am

Looking at the answers from Neal, Jerry, Susan and Steven, it seems that we actually have two different expressions here:

Take ill = only AmE. Very rarely used any more. Sounds either archaic or rural.

Be taken ill = only BrE. Slightly old-fashioned but still in use, especially in polite non-medical contexts.

Thoughts, anyone?

It would seem that way. Also, the American one is used with "with". I don't suppose you could do that with "be taken ill", could you? It would have to be "by". You probably wouldn't do it anyway because, as you said, you are not to give more detail about the condition.

So even when Steven writes "taken ill with a cough" the "taken" is still in the active voice? As in "have you taken" rather than "have you been taken"?

SuKi · « **Reply #13 on:** July 02, 2019, 09:04:16 am »

I think you can add "with...+ ailment" with the passive form.
There are some examples here:

be taken ill/sick | meaning of be taken ill/sick in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English | LDOCE

be taken ill/sick meaning, definition, what is be taken ill/sick: to suddenly become ill: Learn more.

ldoceonline.com

Truman Overby · « **Reply #14 on:** July 02, 2019, 11:18:22 am »

Quote from: SuKi on July 02, 2019, 05:59:23 am

You probably know this already, Nikola, but 'be sick' only means 'throw up' in BrE.

"I was sick yesterday" (AmE) = Stative verb, meaning "I wasn't well", in general terms
"I was sick yesterday" (BrE) = Active verb, meaning "I threw up" ( but may otherwise have been fine - only refers to a single incident).

Here's another one for the list... 'chunder'.

It can also mean to throw up in AmE. So as you say, it can mean a general unwell feeling or to vomit in AmE. I've heard people say "He got sick all over the car." I'd say though that in general, we say throw up, vomit, etc.

But to get back to the question, I'll reiterate that you can forget about the whole taken sick, taken ill, etc. I'll agree with Neal that it's archaic in AmE. I would guess that any American under 50 would give you a funny look if you used it.

NealC · « **Reply #15 on:** July 02, 2019, 11:52:49 am »

It is something you would hear in a Beverly Hillbillies or Green Acres rerun :-)

SHL · « **Reply #16 on:** July 02, 2019, 03:42:30 pm »

Quote from: Nikola on July 02, 2019, 08:20:38 am

Quote from: SuKi on July 02, 2019, 06:33:43 am
Looking at the answers from Neal, Jerry, Susan and Steven, it seems that we actually have two different expressions here:

Take ill = only AmE. Very rarely used any more. Sounds either archaic or rural.

Be taken ill = only BrE. Slightly old-fashioned but still in use, especially in polite non-medical contexts.

Thoughts, anyone?
It would seem that way. Also, the American one is used with "with". I don't suppose you could do that with "be taken ill", could you? It would have to be "by". You probably wouldn't do it anyway because, as you said, you are not to give more detail about the condition.

So even when Steven writes "taken ill with a cough" the "taken" is still in the active voice? As in "have you taken" rather than "have you been taken"?

Yeah, it looks like it was always used in the active voice.It sounds weird in the passive voice.

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Author Topic: To be taken ill (Read 1306 times)

Nikola

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