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WRITAMINS" These writing tips from the author of Get to the Point! will help you write more quickly and concisely.

I Opened the Door and In Flew Enza
In recognition of flu season, this Writamin is devoted to especially pertinent words and phrases that are often misused at this time of year.

Nausea, Nauseous, Nauseate, Nauseating

Nausea (noun) is a sick feeling in the stomach characterized by an urge to vomit, or a feeling of strong aversion and disgust.

Nauseous (adjective) means "causing nausea or sickening."
Thus, if you say "I feel nauseous," you are actually saying that you are causing someone else to feel nausea.

Nauseate (verb) means "to feel or cause to feel nausea", or "to feel or cause to feel loathing or disgust."

Nauseating (adjective) describes something that causes nausea, disgust, loathing or revulsion. In common usage, nauseating is often used in place of nauseous.

For example: "After I saw that movie, I felt an overwhelming nausea. Why do producers make these nauseating films?"

An interesting note: All these nausea-related words derive from the Greek word for seasickness. So nausea has the same etymological root as nautical, which is Greek for a boat or ship. (For those of you who saw "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", this will come as no surprise).

Retch vs. Wretch

Retch is a verb that describes the unpleasant experience of trying to vomit.

Wretch is a noun that describes a person who might make you feel like retching. It refers to someone who is mean, base, or despicable. It can also describe someone who is miserable and unfortunate. Thus, you could write:

For example: "John has caught an unusually nauseous virus. The poor wretch has nausea all the time, and retches constantly. Frankly, I feel nauseated just watching him."

If someone is sick, do not say, "I hope your flu (or cold) is feeling better." You don't want the virus to feel better. You want the virus to be annihilated by the immune system so that the person feels better. Let's keep our priorities straight here!

© 2003 Elizabeth Danziger All rights reserved.

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Elizabeth Danziger offers customized writing training and consulting. For more information, call us at (888) WORKTALK or contact lizd@worktalk.com. Want to join the Writamins distribution list? Reply to this email and write subscribe in the subject line. Want to be removed? Hit reply and write unsubscribe in the subject line.