Have you ever had a liver attack, had your teeth… Do you know the meaning of these pictorial medical expressions?
have bad blood
Meaning. To be concerned, to be concerned about a situation.
Interpretation. This medieval phrase overflows with common sense and does not seem so far from scientific reality. To worry, this expression, means to worry about the worry that worries us. Although we cannot say with certainty and precision that stress acts directly on the blood formula, it has a proven influence on our health.
having a liver attack
Meaning. To be in a certain state of discomfort, to suffer from digestive disorders.
Interpretation. And no, the liver has absolutely nothing to do with that, poor thing! No relation either with a possible mystical-religious crisis… As a general rule, the liver crisis indicates a digestive problem, frequently associated with food abuse. It’s a must during this holiday season, for example.
Have cotton legs
Meaning. Lack of strength in the legs.
Interpretation. It is easy to conceive that when you have cotton legs, you are not likely to be able to go very far. Have you ever had the impression, while climbing stairs, of losing the power of your legs? That tingling sensation that gradually invades your legs? You felt like your legs felt like cotton. Indeed, such fatigue engendered the most picturesque expressions. In fact, in the most serious cases, the legs in cotton testify to a malaise which can lead to a state of unconsciousness. Most of the time, however, it is only a temporary state of fatigue or an excess of effort leading to a drop in energy. All that’s left now is to land to recover his flesh and blood legs.
have hair pain
Meaning. To live a day after a party in an unpleasant way: nausea, bouts of fatigue but above all a violent headache.
Interpretation. Having pain in the hair allows you to say in an attenuated way how painfully you suffer the consequences of the alcohol ingested in such large quantities the previous day. It is not complicated to grasp the origin of the expression: the hair is indeed implanted at the level of the skull and it is the hair itself that leads us to suffer the pain in the early morning, once the vapors of alcohol have dissipated enough to allow the pain to kick in.
There are a few equally picturesque variations: having a sore throat, having a cold or, quite simply, having a hangover. The latter term refers to the dry, pasty feeling in the mouth that can be experienced after an evening of drinking.
Having stomach in heels
Meaning. In case of hunger, one can have the stomach in the heels.
Interpretation. Once again, one can easily understand that the question does not arise in terms of having the stomach in the heels in the true sense of the term. If not, it’s high time to worry. However, when we are very hungry, we rather have the feeling that the stomach “goes down” in a certain way, while when we have eaten a lot, we rather have the perception that the stomach goes up to compress everything else. of the abdomen. Thus, to affirm having the belly in the heels amounts to indicating when we are hungry. Small variant: Have the belly at the bottom of the heels.
It’s the hospital that’s fed up with charity
Meaning. Laughing at someone’s situation when you find yourself in a similar or more serious situation.
Interpretation. This expression comes straight from Lyon where two “rival” medical institutions clashed, the hospital and the charity, which mainly welcomed people in need. Here again, the expression is declined according to several modalities. Sometimes the hospital ridicules the infirmary or even makes fun of the hospice. This expression dates back to 1386, but in a different version. Thus, we said “It’s the shovel that makes fun of the van” or “the stove that makes fun of the cauldron”.
