Tag Archives: health

Apr 11 2013
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Words and expressions

A stitch

I was thinking whether I’ve heard any worthy words or expressions to write about today and couldn’t really think of anything. However, as I was relaying the events of my not entirely uneventful day to my partner, I found the perfect candidate.

Earlier today I decided to try the Body Combat class at the gym – with hindsight this might not have been such a good idea though, considering that I badly scraped my car while trying to squeeze into a space in the car park. Oh well. The class proved not as tricky as I thought, but I did get some pain in my side, to which the instructor said somewhat dismissively ‘It’s just a stitch, come on’.

I don’t think stitch requires a definition (it’s a pain you sometimes get when running or doing other exercise) or examples. But here is a brief explanation of why it occurs.

Surprisingly, the class  wasn’t as intense as I hoped and I’m not entirely sure whether I’ll go there again. Somehow I feel more ‘at home’ doing yoga than punching the air (or an imaginary arch-enemy). But hey, the new word was worth it (not so sure about the car).

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Jun 08 2012
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Words and expressions

To keel over

to keel over meaning

Photo credit: Lloyd Images

Once our 6-months pregnant gym instructor came in saying she was feeling a bit dizzy, but promised not to keel over, which I found quite reassuring, considering that another gym instructor did just that a few weeks before that.

‘To keel over‘ means to suddenly fall because you feel ill. Apparently, this can be applied not just to people, but to computers and the like. It is also used when talking about a ship that falls sideways.

Some examples:

– My email would keel over every time I tried to open this attachment. This was incredibly annoying!

– Yet all over India the tea industry is keeling over because prices have crashed. Tea has not become a penny cheaper for the people who drink it by the gallon on British housing estates (The Guardian).

– Nowadays I wouldn’t feel comfortable working for people who didn’t know about my condition [epilepsy]. It means that I can tell them what to do if I have a fit and I don’t have to play at being someone I am not. People accept that once every few months I keel over (The Guardian).

– Picture soccer fans partying where tanks and missiles paraded on Red Square in the Cold War’s darkest days. Imagine high-tech, air-conditioned stadiums chilled so players and spectators don’t keel over in the sweltering desert heat of the Middle East (fifa2022qa.com).

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