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.
