When I described someone was poorly to a mate he laughed and said whats that mean.
I explained it meant he was ill or was'nt very well.
Well I have never heard of poorly and laughed it off as though it did'nt exist.
However he got out the dictionary and funny enough it was'nt in there.

I have always addressed someone as being poorly if they are sick and can't understand why my mate thinks I'm making the meaning up.
Is this an age thing, for example the younger generation don't say poorly or what as he is only 10 years younger than me.
Does poorly mean the same to you or have you just not heard the saying.

Makes perfect sense to me. :thumbsup:

We used to use the term, 'badly'. Dont hear that any more.

I was born and brought up in a small town called Warsop in North Nottinghamshire.

Poorly and badly were both terms used to describe illness or not feeling well.

I seem to remember that as a kid I'd be 'poorly' but my dad would be 'badly'. Whther that was just family or some aspect of usage that depends upon the age of the sufferer I have no idea.

I can't remember whether one was worse than the other - I don't think so, though if someone was elderley and 'poorly' then it usually meant that they weren't expected to last long.

Joe

I can remember when I was younger I used to say that I was 'poorly' or someone else was 'poorly'.

Now I never say it as it seems like a word younger children will say when someones ill or an older person will say when being sarcastic.

It's obviously in use "dahn sarf" as well, because the Blur song You're So Great contains the line "Sad, drunk and poorly"

buy your friend a bigger dictionary for xmas.

poorly

\Poor"ly\, a. Somewhat ill; indisposed; not in health. ``Having been poorly in health.'' --T. Scott.


Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Originally posted by Cyclone
buy your friend a bigger dictionary for xmas.

poorly

\Poor"ly\, a. Somewhat ill; indisposed; not in health. ``Having been poorly in health.'' --T. Scott.


Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. It is the Collins dictionary so it does'nt come any bigger than that.
Well glad to see it does exist anyway even if its absent from his book.

I think it's one of those words that will fade and disappear from general use. My mum used to say 'poorly' and my dad used to say 'badly'. They seem to have been replaced with 'ill' these days

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=poorly

Another word that people from around the UK except here in Yorkshire have laughed at me for using, is mardy.

When I used it on holiday in September, I was around cockneys, Scottish, Geordies.. Yet none of them knew what it meant!

Still used in my circles.
When used in present tense it tends to mean unwell but not bad enough to warrant a doctor.
When used in past tense, however, it can include more serious illnesses including hospital etc.

Yes, in Rotherham it means ill as does 'badly' . Well, it used to, don't hear so much these days. It's more of 'ill' and 'sick' these days.

Originally posted by GazB
Another word that people from around the UK except here in Yorkshire have laughed at me for using, is mardy.

When I used it on holiday in September, I was around cockneys, Scottish, Geordies.. Yet none of them knew what it meant!

Hmmm.... When I am down in the south, I never hear the word "mardy". I think it is only a "Yorkshire-ism"(!)

Poorly - I use poorly quite alot, and have heard it used by some of my southern friends.

I always use the terms poorly or badly when talking about someone who is i'll.

I used the word Mardy down south and they didn't have a clue what I was on about.

The words 'mardy,' 'poorly' and 'badly' don't exist down south. I should know, I'd never heard of them before I moved to Sheffield 15 years ago! OK I admit it, I'm a southerner.

I thought poorly was used all over?!? I've heard badly alot in my family, but it tended to be the older members who used it. You don't seem to hear people use mardy as much now either.

Makes perfect sense to mr Cycleracer.

Originally posted by Cycleracer
It is the Collins dictionary so it does'nt come any bigger than that.
Well glad to see it does exist anyway even if its absent from his book.

Errmm...the Oxford English dictionary is bigger and usually considered the definitive dictionary. It does have the defintion as you described
(See : poorly (http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/00184040?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=poorly&edition=2e&first=1&max_to_show=10))

"B. adj. Chiefly colloq. [app. evolved from the adv., through such a use as to look poorly: cf. to look ill.] In a poor state of health; somewhat ill; unwell, indisposed."

Note it does say 'Chiefly colloquial" - so maybe it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise if your mate hasn't heard if it.

Nomme

I'm Poorly... it's a well known term.

Originally posted by Longshanks
The words 'mardy,' 'poorly' and 'badly' don't exist down south. I should know, I'd never heard of them before I moved to Sheffield 15 years ago! OK I admit it, I'm a southerner.
Damn southeners encroaching on our boards! :D

Wouldn't it be a boring world if we were all the same?:hihi:

I've lived in the north, midlands and south, and I have never heard the phrase "poorly" outside of Sheffield, Barnsley and Chesterfield. I remember a particularly irritating version used at Concord Middle School by certain insipid types; "Ah were proper poorly, me". "Mardy" seems to be Sheffield coloquialism too, as does "overlaid", or "oerlaid"- meaning late for work because one has overslept.

Originally posted by mat1978
We used to use the term, 'badly'. Dont hear that any more.

I worked in Leeds years ago. they used to say 'badly' there. I allways assumed it was a Leeds thing.

Originally posted by timo
I've lived in the north, midlands and south, and I have never heard the phrase "poorly" outside of Sheffield, Barnsley and Chesterfield.

Was and is common in North West Lancs. Lancaster, Preston, Blackpool etc.

We use both 'poorly' and 'mardy' here, never heard of 'badly' though, that doesn't sound very grammatically correct to me.

Apparently, outside Leicestershire, nobody knows what a 'jitty' or a 'croggy' is?

Originally posted by Sidla
We use both 'poorly' and 'mardy' here, never heard of 'badly' though, that doesn't sound very grammatically correct to me.

Apparently, outside Leicestershire, nobody knows what a 'jitty' or a 'croggy' is?

Dunno about 'jitty' but in Cheshire a 'croggy' was what we called giving soneone a lift on your bike via them sitting on the crossbar. (As opposed to a 'seaty')

Nomme

I'm a southerner too (or was - do you stop being a southerner when you emigrate?) and we always used the word poorly. I only ever encountered "mardy" in Sheffield, and I thought that meant something more like grumpy. Poorly for us tended to mean more serious illness. You always knew if you visited someone in hospital and the nurse described them as "very poorly" that they didn't have much chance.

poorly sick and dying-how most men describe a cold!:D

i've always associated using the word poorly with speaking to a child, or being spoken too when i was a child.

i don't know why that is...

Originally posted by Cyclone
i've always associated using the word poorly with speaking to a child, or being spoken too when i was a child.

i don't know why that is...
yeah , have you got a poorly??? meaning a cut or graze or something. or do you have a poorly tummy?

Originally posted by NatalieSheff
poorly sick and dying-how most men describe a cold!:D Nah, thats Flu.:heyhey:

Originally posted by Cycleracer
Nah, thats Flu.:heyhey:
or an excuse to play with mr x box

Originally posted by ranmoorboy20
Damn southeners encroaching on our boards! :D

moderating them too.

I'd always thought that poorly, meaning sick or ill, was pretty much universal english, even though it is a colloquial expression. I'd certainly heard it before I came oop north.

Originally posted by mat1978
We used to use the term, 'badly'. Dont hear that any more.

Badly??? never heard that one before..

Poorly is used this side of Sheffield (Ecclesall) very frequently, and often used to convey sympathy as well. I think it's also indicative of a more serious illness than just being ill or sick.

It's what mums say to their little kids ;) Do you feel poorly?

Poorly is definately a generic British term. I'm quite proud that nobody knows what a jitty is though :D

Originally posted by timo
"Mardy" seems to be Sheffield coloquialism too, as does "overlaid", or "oerlaid"- meaning late for work because one has overslept.

I was brought up in Manchester, and "mardy" was used there far more there than I ever hear it in Sheffield. Have lived down south at varoius times/places for 3 years, and they didn't seem to have a problem understanding what I meant with 'mardy', although never heard anyone else using it!

One phrase that I never hear down south though is "nine while five", it's always "nine to five"

Originally posted by jen_white
Badly??? never heard that one before..

Poorly is used this side of Sheffield (Ecclesall) very frequently, and often used to convey sympathy as well. I think it's also indicative of a more serious illness than just being ill or sick.

It's what mums say to their little kids ;) Do you feel poorly?
Not even as in 'he did badly in a test'?

Originally posted by noseyrosie
Not even as in 'he did badly in a test'?

Obviously as in "he did badly in a test" but not used instead of poorly.. or did I get confused somewhere along the line??:confused:

Giving someone a lift on your bike... that's a backy where I'm from!
Poorly is used where I'm from in the midlands.
And mardy means moody... as in "that mardy cow had a right go at me".

Originally posted by christine
Giving someone a lift on your bike... that's a backy where I'm from!
Poorly is used where I'm from in the midlands.
And mardy means moody... as in "that mardy cow had a right go at me".

lol backy is the name for tobacco here :P

Even though I'm sure I've heard people say "backy" the context you've mentioned.....

People just seem to pick up things from different places.

Anyone here call their remote control "gadget"? I catch myself doing it sometimes- embarassing!

as in 'this new-fangled gadget'?! That would be embarrassing ;-)
Did anyone have the question asked of them at school 'are you an inny or an outy?'

Originally posted by christine
as in 'this new-fangled gadget'?! That would be embarrassing ;-)
Did anyone have the question asked of them at school 'are you an inny or an outy?'


I think my mum got it from my grandparents. Then my Dad started saying it then I began saying it :rant:

Bloomin parents

In answer to your question, Yes I was asked whether I had an inny or an outy. At junior school though!

I have an inny

So lets say "poorly" is an anagram then which is for anyone who does'nt know means more than one term but is spelt the same.
" It was poorly made" or " I'm feeling poorly.

you think poorly is poorly understod, try explaining the word 'nesh' to a Dane...and she didn't understand 'chicken skin' either.

Originally posted by pigupig
you think poorly is poorly understod, try explaining the word 'nesh' to a Dane...and she didn't understand 'chicken skin' either.

I know just what you mean :D I was once asked by a French student to define both nesh and smarmy! I gave up!:D