instagram & "sick"

[adey73]

I realise we are united by the indeterminacy of the language.....

 

I have just been looking at some kelp cured cod photos (I know, am a wild one) and next to it someone had written...

 

"I tried that and it tasted sick"  

 

In Americanese is that puke sick?  

[Thanks for the Crepes]

39 minutes ago, adey73 said:

I realise we are united by the indeterminacy of the language.....

 

I have just been looking at some kelp cured cod photos (I know, am a wild one) and next to it someone had written...

 

"I tried that and it tasted sick"  

 

In Americanese is that puke sick?  

 

I was intrigued by your question, but unfamiliar with the term "sick". I know "wicked" and "bad" are used with inverted meanings in the US, but hadn't heard "sick" used that way until you brought it up here.

 

Here's a link that explains it might be used in the inverted sense to mean the kelp cured cod was actually indeed very good. I'm no expert on slang or texting, and will be looking forward to input from much hipper folks than I am.

[Lisa Shock]

Yeah, it could definitely mean good. It usually has overtones of being surprisingly excellent, like the person saying wishes they were smart enough to have invented it.

[BeeZee]

yes, "sick" is like "crazy good" (and sometimes "nasty" is good, too!)

[liuzhou]

I think, although I may be wrong, that the OP is referring to 'sick' as meaning 'vomit'. - typical British and Commonwealth usage.

[Smithy]

"Sick" is quite definitely an Americanism for "excellent" to a generation younger than mine, and has been for at least a decade.  Whether the instagram note meant "sick" as in 'nauseating' or "sick" as in 'outstandingly good' does depend on the Instagram poster's location/culture.  As adey73 notes, it's in indication of the vaguaries of language, particularly slang.  

 

"...two countries, separated by a common language" -- attributed to George Bernard Shaw 

[cakewalk]

Considering that the OP was talking about kelp cured cod, I'm going to guess that he was not singing the praises of this dish, although I am not objective. I always think of "sick," in its most general sense, as referring to things that just don't go together well. Behavior is "sick" when it doesn't fit into certain norms. A person is "sick" (or "ill") because something is not going together well in his body. Etc. The OP might be using it in the sense of "bad" meaning "good" (although I think that's a bit outdated now), but given the subject, I think "bad" means "bad" here. 

[Martin Fisher]

LOL

I think that 'sick' in a context such as this could have two meanings—exactly the opposite.

When I see the term 'sick' used as above, I almost always take it to mean, 'sick' as in/short for 'sickening.'