English Majors--need you to settle something

[minkydog]

DS22 contradicted his GF at lunch today. She wasn't feeling good and mentioned that she "felt nauseous." He said the proper phrase was "I feel nauseated." I said the words had the same meaning and usage.

Then he tried to explain that it was the same as saying "drugs are addictive." He says the proper phrase would be "drugs are addicting." Once I again I told him that he was splitting hairs. The words have the same meaning and are used interchangably.

So tell me. Am I off my rocker?

 

[GoodFairies]

I believe he is correct in the first example, but incorrect in the second.

I wasn't an English major though.
I'm not sure it matters much in conversational English though.

 

[Rebelmom67]

Your son is right.
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians//errors/nauseated.html

 

[All American]

This is from the Index to English, eighth edition:

nauseated means "sickened, disgusted" (I felt nauseated at the sight.)

nauseous means "causing sickness or disgust" (The smell was nauseous.)

The book does go on to say that "feeling nauseous" and "getting nauseous" is very common and dictionaries list "nauseated" "as a second meaning of nauseous."

 

[Skatermom23]

His girlfriend is ill and he is correcting her grammar??

For the record I would have said the same thing she did.

 

[dalt01]

he is wrong on the second one addictive and addicting are interchangable

 

[Disney Doll]

Grammatically your son is correct on the naseous/nauseated thing...although he's not too smart correcting his girlfriend and nitpicking...especially if she's not feeling well.

Good thing she didn't barf on his shoes and say "Wow...now I'm not nauseous or nauseated anymore!'.

 

[NCRedding]

DS22 She wasn't feeling good

If he is a true English geek, never use this phrase in front of him either.

I agree with him on the first, but not the second

 

[minkydog]

Grammatically your son is correct on the naseous/nauseated thing...although he's not too smart correcting his girlfriend and nitpicking...especially if she's not feeling well.

Good thing she didn't barf on his shoes and say "Wow...now I'm not nauseous or nauseated anymore!'.

Yeah, that's pretty much how I felt. What a maroon...

thanks for setting me straight. I'll throw down my sword--he gets the point.

 

[JessicaR]

Grammatically your son is correct on the naseous/nauseated thing...although he's not too smart correcting his girlfriend and nitpicking...especially if she's not feeling well.

Good thing she didn't barf on his shoes and say "Wow...now I'm not nauseous or nauseated anymore!'.

I hope she is feeling better.

 

[alexandria674]

The second sentence is wrong.

BUT then again why did he correct her while she was feeling ill?

 

[Val]

While he might be correct on the first one, I think if I was the girlfriend, I would have just shown him how nauseating I could be.....by relieving my nausea on HIM! And then I would no longer be nauseated....but he might be!

 

[Sparx]

he's right

ex: i get car sick.
i feel nauseated in the car.
but the car is nauseous to me.

but addictive and addicting are the same thing since things that are addictive have addicting tenancies.

but no matter how much of a grammar nazi you are, it is typically very impolite to correct people.

 

[crashbb]

Yeah, that's pretty much how I felt. What a maroon...

thanks for setting me straight. I'll throw down my sword--he gets the point.

You may not want to tell him he is maroon - unless he recently got stained a funny colour He is, however, a moron.

Sorry, not giving you a hard time, it just seemed funny given the discussion.

 

[Laura]

DS22 contradicted his GF at lunch today. She wasn't feeling good and mentioned that she "felt nauseous." He said the proper phrase was "I feel nauseated." I said the words had the same meaning and usage.

Then he tried to explain that it was the same as saying "drugs are addictive." He says the proper phrase would be "drugs are addicting." Once I again I told him that he was splitting hairs. The words have the same meaning and are used interchangably.

So tell me. Am I off my rocker?

One can use "nauseous" to describe something that would make you throw up (like a cheesy movie), not how you actually feel. But it is not incorrect to say "I feel nauseous". http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nauseous

"Addictive" (an adjective) and "addicting" (a verb) are not really interchangeable.

Still, he's wrong on both counts.

 

[GoodFairies]

You may not want to tell him he is maroon - unless he recently got stained a funny colour He is, however, a moron.

Sorry, not giving you a hard time, it just seemed funny given the discussion.

I do believe she was just channeling Bugs Bunny there.

 

[Nie0214]

Is your DS22 single now?

 

[Cool-Beans]

The girlfriend was nauseated...unless she was making him sick, in which case she was nauseous. But if anyone was nauseous there, I think it was him.

I always say, "Not to me!" when people say they're nauseous. It's a bad joke, but I like it.