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  • When I say that I'm sick, people* tell me, "Oh, you are ill?"

    And invariably, when I say I'm ill, people** tell me, "You're sick? I'm sorry".

    *British colleague

    **American friends

    November 3, 2008

  • Nobody in the U.S. uses the word ill, unless in a rap, right?

    November 3, 2008

  • I use the word ill, and I'm as far from rap as you can get.

    November 3, 2008

  • See sickie.

    November 3, 2008

  • Excluding the slang use of both to mean, basically, cool, ill always seems to mean "having some kind of medical condition", whereas sick can also mean depraved, nauseating, disappointed, and sundry other things. For this reason and aesthetically, I prefer ill.

    November 3, 2008

  • I agree, should I feel the urge to chuck a sickie – that is, to egrote – my pretext would always be that I am ill.

    But when I'm ill, I find that I feel "really sick".

    November 3, 2008