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nauseous and nauseated

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MmeBovary2

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Jan 6, 1998, 3:00:00 AM1/6/98
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What is the difference between nauseous and nauseated?

Thank you,

Judy Manion
Judith Martin

Robert Lieblich

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Jan 6, 1998, 3:00:00 AM1/6/98
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MmeBovary2 wrote:
>
> What is the difference between nauseous and nauseated?

"Nauseated" is used only to describe how someone feels -- sick to the
stomach. "Nauseous" originally meant only "nauseating" -- causing
nausea -- but usage has drifted and it is now more commonly used as a
synonym for "nauseated," so it now has both meanings. I used to tease
my wife when she said she was "nauseous" that I loved her even if she
did make people sick to their stomachs. She found this singularly
unfunny, and by now the way she uses the word is so widespread that most
people wouldn't even realize what the joke was.

In short -- "nauseous" is often, but not invariably, a synonym for
"nauseated" but is also used (more frequently in older texts) to mean
"nauseating." At the rate things are going, the latter meaning may
become obsolete.

Bob Lieblich

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MmeBovary2

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Jan 7, 1998, 3:00:00 AM1/7/98
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Bob,

Thank you.

Judy
Judith Martin

JUST AN H

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Jan 11, 1998, 3:00:00 AM1/11/98
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You need a brush up course in logic, Maryann! -grinning-

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