Health and Illness

人的身體，健康狀況有程度上的分別：神釆奕奕、情況尚可、體質轉壞、入院接受治療、危在旦夕等，都有不同的英文語句，洽當地描述。

 

 

 

Being healthy means in good health: well, all right, fine.

 

身體狀態非常良好，最普遍的說法有：I’m feeling fine/I’m feeling very well.

 

活潑的片語是 I’m as fit as a fiddle，非常健康。

 

口語化但比較老套的片語是 I’m in the pink (old- fashioned, informal) = in perfect physical condition。

 

身體強壯、容光煥發的幽默說法是 I’m A1，健康頂好。

 

A clean bill of health is a statement or report that you are healthy 醫生說你健康合格的證明書。

 

某人很健康的其他說法，還有：

 

He looks the picture of health / feels on top of the world / has never felt better / is fighting fit / is in pretty good shape / is feeling above par / is as right rain / is up and about.

 

 

身體狀況一般，算是中等，習慣上便有這些說法：

 

I’m fairly well / I’m just middling / I’m not so bad / I’m as well as expected.

 

 

身體上或精神上有毛病，有很多表達用法，舉例如下：

 

I’m feeling run down / I’m feeling poorly / I’m out of sorts / I’m under the weather / I feel off colour / I’m washed out / I’m not feeling myself / I’m not feeling up to the mark.

 

以上多指小病，微恙，身體感到不適。

 

假如某人抱恙持續較長時間，需要臥病在床，病情相當嚴重時，不同的說法有：

 

He is seriously ill / to be bed-ridden / taken ill with something (e.g. influenza).

He gets sick / catches / contracts a disease.

 

至於求醫診治的說法，When someone is hospitalized, we can say: he is taken to hospital; he is admitted to hospital; he goes into hospital.

 

經常和生病或某些疾病扯上關係的字彙：

 

A symptom 病象 is a change in your body which is a sign of illness e.g. a cough, a cold, a fever 咳嗽、發冷、發高燒。

 

談到不同的疾病和狀態 kinds of illness and state，你可以留意以下最常見的語彙和用法：

 

An acute illness 急性病 quickly reaches its worst stage and does not usually last long. A chronic illness 長期的、慢性的疾病 continues for a long time. 

 

A fatal disease 致命的疾病 is likely to end in death. We say that the patient is terminally ill 病人患上不治之症. 

 

A curable disease 可治癒的病 can be cured. An incurable one is the opposite.

 

In other words, when a person is critically ill 病情危急：He is on the critical/danger list.

 

If he is dangerously ill, he is in a critical condition.

 

A patient is terminally ill means he has a fatal disease and he is likely to end in death.

 

 

有關身體康復的字彙：

 

Healing = curative 有療效的，restorative 促使康復的。

To recover, to convalesce, or to recuperate 復元 is to return to good health.

 

身體復元的成語，多釆多姿，有很多選擇：

 

I’m on the mend = recovering from an illness or injury (to get better/get well/get over something)

I’m picking up

I’m getting over it

I’m doing well

I’m improving by the day (i.e. every day)

I’m getting on nicely (I’m making good progress)

I feel more like myself

I’ve turned the corner (especially after a serious illness) 

I’m out of danger (no longer seriously ill)

I’m over the worst.

 

 

三個和疾病有關的字，用法頗有分別：

 

Ill and sick are both used to say that someone has a disease or some other problem with their health.

 

Illness = the state of being physically or mentally ill. Illness is a more common word than disease and often refers to the experience of being ill. Illness can last for a long or a short time，and its effect can be serious or not serious.

 

Disease is used especially to refer to a particular illness which has a name e.g. malaria, leprosy or tuberculosis. A disease that can easily pass from one person to another is infectious. A disease that you can get by touching somebody or something is contagious.

 

Sickness = illness, bad health. Sickness is used most often in contexts concerning work and insurance, such as sick leave. In American English, to be sick means the same as to be ill. In British English, it means to bring up food from the stomach, e.g. Flying always makes me feel sick. I want to vomit.

 

最後，To ask about somebody’s health, you say: How are you?

 

To wish somebody a recovery from illness, you say: Get well soon.

 

本專欄逢周二、五發表