Stupid News Comment - Take Three

[AnotherHiggins]

I was going to add this to one of the two earlier threads, but they are both archived. Man, time flies.

On the local news last night in the intro to this story, one of the anchors said, "America is the richest country in the world. It may also be the sickest. At least compared to Great Britain."

I was only half listening (I was reading at the time) and I actually rewound to make sure I heard it correctly. It is quite a leap to go from, 'Americans are less healthy than the British' (another Western First World Country) to 'Americans are the sickest people in the world'.

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[SantaMufasa]

America...may...be the sickest (country)

I don't doubt that we Yanks are amongst the "least healthy physically", but if one also misinterprets "sickest" in the above quote to mean that Americans (as a group) exhibit the "poorest mental health; most deviant/perverse behaviour", I wouldn't doubt that either.


But in our defense, I don't know too many other peoples (again, as a group) that tend to exhibit more kind and charitable behaviour...lend a helping hand...either.

Oops, I'm waaaaay off into the weeds with my posting, aren't I?...Sorry...Red flag me, John, if you choose.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I can provide you with low-cost, remote Database Administration services: see our website and contact me via www.dasages.com]

 

[AnotherHiggins]

Not at all. all are welcome!

[gray](It's that American kindness, you see)[/gray]

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[GwydionM]

more stress, more over-eating, general ill health

------------------------------
An old man who lives in the UK

 

[CRilliterate]

ill health?

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[AnotherHiggins]

ill health?

That post is a bit cryptic. Are you asking a question? Making fun of something? Do you not understand that phrase? Or are you trying to say something else altogether?

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[Stella740pl]

I think I understand CRilliterate's post.

When you literally translate the expression into some languages, you get 2 mutually exclusive words. "Ill health" is like, well, "sick health", "unwell health", or, possibly, "crazy sanity". Or "poor wealth" (I like this one - does it really exist?), "black whiteness", "dark light". Well, I hope you get an idea.

So CR was probably surprised by this expression, and wanted to ask if this is correct and if it really exists. Because years ago it would seem to me, too, that it would be either "ill" OR "health", not all at once, even though you can say in those same languages "bad health", "weak health".

The key here is to translate in context and not literally, because there are shades of meaning to the word.

CRilliterate, did I get this right?

 

[IknowMe]

sick adj 1. "cool" or "awesome." ("That movie was sick!") Submitted by Emily Marcroft, UC Berkeley, CA, USA, 13-01-1998. cool

So it could be understood as

"America is the richest country in the world. It may also be the Coolest. At least compared to Great Britain."

Okay there's the flame bait, let me have it.

Wow, I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.
I think I've forgotten this before.

 

[2ffat]

It may also be the sickest. At least compared to Great Britain.

That would imply that Brits are the second most sickest people in the world.

James P. Cottingham
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[TheRambler]

Rates of smoking are similar in the US and England but alcohol consumption is higher in the UK.

Therefore is not cool to drink lots of beer, I get it MrMilson.

I think you are right Stella, because I too interpret "ill health" as an oxymoron, I would have said "poor health" or "bad health", but now I know better. My problem was thinking of "ill" as a noun only when it can be used as an adjective or as an adverb too.

 

[gbaughma]

Therefore is not cool to drink lots of beer, I get it MrMilson.

Wait a sec... if the USA is in worse health than the UK, but the UK consumes more alcohol than the US, then that means that I *SHOULD* drink more, so I can be healthier?





Just my 2¢

"In order to start solving a problem, one must first identify its owner." --Me
--Greg

 

[CRilliterate]

higgins and stella, why TheRambler got it right away and not you?
'ill health' IS oxymoron and why was it so seriously taken from me?
Thank you TheRambler.

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[Stella740pl]

TheRambler,

Even though I usually interpret 'ill' as an adjective (As in "You can be either ill or healthy"), and I can hear an oxymoron in the expression "ill health", too, I didn't have a problem with it the moment I read it. I mean, if there can be "ill will", "ill feelings", and many other ill things, there probably can be "ill health".

I think "ill health" should be a mostly UK expression. Is it so?

 

[AnotherHiggins]

higgins and stella, why TheRambler got it right away and not you?
'ill health' IS oxymoron and why was it so seriously taken from me?
Thank you TheRambler.

First, Stella did understand your post. Thanks to Stella and TheRambler for your insight.

As for why I didn't understand: You gave absolutely no context. You simply typed, "ill health?".

That is an expression I have heard since childhood (BTW - I'm American, Stella), so the oxymoron aspect didn't occur to me until Stella pointed it out.

And I didn't take it extremely seriously. I just had no earthly idea what you meant.

All:
The original intent of the thread was to discuss stupid things heard on TV and/or radio, not the content of the article. But threads rarely progress as the OP expects, and the conversation is going along well, so keep it up.

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[CRilliterate]

Yes, higgins, imagine 2 people talking

-more stress, more over-eating, general ill health
-ill health?
-Agree, I would have said "poor health" or "bad health", but now I know better.
-I think "ill health" should be a mostly UK expression. Is it so?

Easy! if you think about it.

Stella said:
I wasn't literally translating the expression into some languages.
If "Ill health" is like, "sick health", "unwell health" then word 'health should be left out completely because sick health IS illness and no health at all.

Never heard of "crazy sanity".

About "poor wealth" I would say former person with a bad luck lately...I could leave it alone without comments.

No way there is someone saying "black whiteness" anywhere!!!
However "dark light" vs "bright light" is in different rooms of my house.

So it is not all the same. All of your examples do have different 'oxymoronizm' in them but i am sure someone can point out difference tomorrow. Got to go and thank you all.

________________________________________
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[IknowMe]

I think "ill health" should be a mostly UK expression. Is it so?

I've heard "poor health" used frequently in US

"America is the richest country in the world. It may also be the sickest."

This could explain my high health insurance premiums. I tend to blame McDonald's for this statement, surely it's that cheap yet fattening dollar menu attributing to my excesses of cash and waist.

Wow, I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.
I think I've forgotten this before.

 

[TheRambler]

Thanks to you anotherhiggins for allowing a little digression to help us jump over language barriers while we "improve our ability to communicate effectively", it is not always an easy thing to do (mainly when I read SilentAiche's posts ), but this forum's friendly atmosphere helps a lot.

 

[SilentAiche]

TheRambler,

So, you've been reading my "posts" have you? I find that "rail" ofFense-ive (of course, then I start giggling about something else and forget what the heck I was talking about...)

Tim (triple smilies, as if they worked... stupid NetScape, and me)



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[Stella740pl]

CR,

Never heard of "crazy sanity".
...
No way there is someone saying "black whiteness" anywhere!!!

And probably won't. They don't exist as of now, as far as I know. I made up these examples to show the absurdity of how the expression "ill health" might have sounded to you. If I've used existing oxymorons, the oxymoron aspect could have been also missed by all the English speaking people here.

I wasn't literally translating the expression into some languages.

So I misunderstood the way you were thinking, but I got what you meant in the end close enough nevertheless.

And last,
Yes, higgins, imagine 2 people talking
...
Easy! if you think about it.

Easy - if 2 people talking, and also can hear and see each other. Probably not so easy to trace everyone's posts and line of thought when many people talking over the Internet.

MrMilson,

I've heard "poor health" used frequently in US.
Likewise.

 

[chiph]

Being from the south, I often hear that someone is "feeling poorly". Meaning that they're in poor health, but a literal translation could easily be misunderstood.

Chip H.


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