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fandom_grammarAnswer: What is the difference between "nauseated" and "nauseous"?
With examples from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Harry Potter.
It happens all the time: whether you're writing about an alien or a demon or a magic spell, or just an ordinary odor or taste that's supernaturally bad, you need to describe that special feeling you get when your stomach turns and you want to vomit. Nausea. We can all agree on its noun and verb forms: nausea is the feeling itself, and when we describe the action that the disgusting thing is performing to make you want to spew, we say "it nauseates me" (or "it nauseated me", if the nausea is, blessedly, over). But what about the adjective form? Do we say it is a "nauseating" thing, or a "nauseous" thing? And how do we describe the way it makes us feel: do we feel "nauseated" or "nauseous"?
First, let's take a look at the dictionary definition for "nauseated". Dictionary.com first brings up the verb form, which makes sense. Then we get the adjective form:
Nauseated: (adj.) feeling nausea; feeling about to vomit
That's pretty clear. If we put it in a sentence, we get:
Every time he saw Ron belch up another slimy slug, Harry felt nauseated.
Now let's check on "nauseating".
Nauseating: (adj.) 1. causing sickness of the stomach; nauseous. 2. such as to cause contempt, disgust, loathing, etc.
Okay, so with "nauseating", we've got two slightly different definitions:
1. A nauseating stench emanated from the hideous fat demon in the tub.
2. Principal Snyder's nauseating behavior made Buffy want to punch him in the face.
So far, so good. "Nauseating" describes the thing, "nauseated" describes how the thing makes us feel. The problem comes in with "nauseous".
Nauseous: (adj.) 1. Causing nausea; sickening. 2. Affected with nausea (Usage Problem).
Usage problem! Oh no! Here are examples to illustrate those two meanings.
1. The nauseous taste of the Polyjuice Potion made Harry gag.
2. When Harry drank the potion, he felt nauseous. OR, more simply, The potion made Harry nauseous.
So this one word, "nauseous", is commonly used to describe both the thing that creates the nausea and the feeling of nausea itself! This certainly is confusing. Which definition is correct?
Many people (myself, until about an hour ago, included) are "nauseous" purists, insisting that definition #1 is the only correct one, and that only the disgusting thing is what's nauseous. "If Harry were nauseous, we wouldn't want to read about him!," these nauseous purists chortle. This was what I had intended to tell you in this post.
However, dictionary.com has enlightened me: apparently meaning #2, "affected by nausea", came into use in 1604, and meaning #1, "causing nausea", came into use in 1612, so both definitions have been in use for hundreds of years and are technically valid. Traditional critics really tend to prefer meaning #1 for this word, though--"causing nausea", as in the "nauseous taste"--so if you use "nauseous", I recommend going with that definition if you want to avoid nitpicking. You can also avoid the issue entirely by choosing "nauseated/nauseating" instead.
With examples from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Harry Potter.
It happens all the time: whether you're writing about an alien or a demon or a magic spell, or just an ordinary odor or taste that's supernaturally bad, you need to describe that special feeling you get when your stomach turns and you want to vomit. Nausea. We can all agree on its noun and verb forms: nausea is the feeling itself, and when we describe the action that the disgusting thing is performing to make you want to spew, we say "it nauseates me" (or "it nauseated me", if the nausea is, blessedly, over). But what about the adjective form? Do we say it is a "nauseating" thing, or a "nauseous" thing? And how do we describe the way it makes us feel: do we feel "nauseated" or "nauseous"?
First, let's take a look at the dictionary definition for "nauseated". Dictionary.com first brings up the verb form, which makes sense. Then we get the adjective form:
Nauseated: (adj.) feeling nausea; feeling about to vomit
That's pretty clear. If we put it in a sentence, we get:
Every time he saw Ron belch up another slimy slug, Harry felt nauseated.
Now let's check on "nauseating".
Nauseating: (adj.) 1. causing sickness of the stomach; nauseous. 2. such as to cause contempt, disgust, loathing, etc.
Okay, so with "nauseating", we've got two slightly different definitions:
1. A nauseating stench emanated from the hideous fat demon in the tub.
2. Principal Snyder's nauseating behavior made Buffy want to punch him in the face.
So far, so good. "Nauseating" describes the thing, "nauseated" describes how the thing makes us feel. The problem comes in with "nauseous".
Nauseous: (adj.) 1. Causing nausea; sickening. 2. Affected with nausea (Usage Problem).
Usage problem! Oh no! Here are examples to illustrate those two meanings.
1. The nauseous taste of the Polyjuice Potion made Harry gag.
2. When Harry drank the potion, he felt nauseous. OR, more simply, The potion made Harry nauseous.
So this one word, "nauseous", is commonly used to describe both the thing that creates the nausea and the feeling of nausea itself! This certainly is confusing. Which definition is correct?
Many people (myself, until about an hour ago, included) are "nauseous" purists, insisting that definition #1 is the only correct one, and that only the disgusting thing is what's nauseous. "If Harry were nauseous, we wouldn't want to read about him!," these nauseous purists chortle. This was what I had intended to tell you in this post.
However, dictionary.com has enlightened me: apparently meaning #2, "affected by nausea", came into use in 1604, and meaning #1, "causing nausea", came into use in 1612, so both definitions have been in use for hundreds of years and are technically valid. Traditional critics really tend to prefer meaning #1 for this word, though--"causing nausea", as in the "nauseous taste"--so if you use "nauseous", I recommend going with that definition if you want to avoid nitpicking. You can also avoid the issue entirely by choosing "nauseated/nauseating" instead.
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7/12/13 14:14 (UTC)Please let me know what you think as my observation is based on my knowledge of French grammar as opposed to knowledge of English grammar.
kind regards
Poppy