Fixed English Expressions about Health

Here you will learn English fixed expressions about health and also learn how to describe your symptoms to a doctor if you have nose problems.

Speak better English with Harry - Episode 133

Harry

Harry is a native English teacher with over 10 years of experience both online and in face-to-face lessons. With his extensive experience in business, he specialises in Business English lessons but happily teaches ESL students with any English learning needs.

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Hi there, this is Harry and welcome back to my English learning podcast Speak Better English with Harry where I try to help you better understand the English language, learn new English vocabulary, and improve your English listening and speaking skills.

So this episode contains some English fixed expressions or English collocations related to health. As you might know, some of the collocations are fixed, meaning the words stay fixed and you can’t change them.

So the first few here I’m going to give you, are fixed collocations – do not change them, do not change the order of the words.

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battered and bruised

Means how somebody after they have had difficult times. It might be actual where they’ve had a car accident, or fallen off their bicycle, or horse, whatever it might, and somebody asks them:

How do you feel?

Oh, I’m battered and bruised.

Meaning I’m sore everywhere. We don’t say bruised and battered.

Of course, it’s not always physical, you can also have this feeling after you’ve been sitting with your boss for your personal review. You come out of it feeling:

I’m battered and bruised after listening to all his complaints or criticisms.

Fixed English Expressions about Health

aches and pains

Be careful, not pains and aches but aches and pains.

Meaning you wake up in the morning, you’ve got a touch of fever, maybe a little temperature, you ring into to say:

I can’t come to work today, I have aches and pains everywhere.

Everywhere I touch – my back, my throat, my legs – everywhere is sore, aches and pains everywhere.

cuts and bruises

Again, when something physical has happened. You’re running in a field, you slip over, you fall into a hedge, or fall down a small little hill, and you end up with a few cuts and bruises.

So somebody asks you:

Well, how are you after your little accident?

Ah, it’s nothing to worry about, just a few cuts and bruises.

I had that myself a few times when I was cycling my bicycle and I went around the corner too fast or got into some gravel where the bike skids.

And then finally,

coughing and sneezing

Oh, I can’t come to work today. I woke up this morning coughing and sneezing.

In fact, I was coughing and sneezing all night. The first signs of “man flu”.

Describe your Health Symptoms in English

Ok, while we’re on the theme of health, and this is the season when people tend to have a little cold, I have a few more health expressions for you concerning the nose. Let’s learn how to describe medical symptoms in English if you’ve got nose problems:

runny nose

Part of that cold process. Every time you cough or sneeze, your nose runs, so you have to have a constant supply of tissues to wipe your nose. When you’re describing symptoms to the doctor, you say:

I’m coughing and sneezing and I’ve got a runny nose.

So we can get some sprays or something to help prevent it.

Or if we’re feeling less polite we can also use

snotty nose

And a snotty child is when you see a little child with a fever and they can’t get rid of it, and they’ve got nose problems.

It’s the same as RUNNY NOSE but it’s a little less polite. It’s not rude, it’s more informal and more slang.

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The third expression is

my nose is dripping

So somebody rings you and asks:

How are you feeling?

Oh, don’t ask, I’ve got a terrible headache, I’ve got a runny nose. In fact, my nose is dripping.

It’s dripping like a tap.

You know, if you sometimes leave a tap open in the kitchen and it makes those sounds ‘drip, drip, drip’. Well, that’s sometimes how our noses feel when we have a bad cold.

And then finally when you’re getting near the end of flu symptoms, or you’re getting near the end of the cold, you might have a few days when you’ve got

blocked nose

Meaning you find it difficult to breathe.

You’re breathing through your mouth instead of through your nose because when you try to breathe in, it’s very very difficult.

So blocked can be a problem, you might need some tablets or nasal spray.

There are the expressions to describe your nose problems to a doctor in English:

runny nose
snotty nose
my nose is dripping
blocked nose

Hopefully, you’re not suffering in that way. Please join me again soon for improving your English. And as always, visit me on englishlessonviaskype.com and listen to Speak Better English with Harry Podcast on iTunes, Spotify and Stitcher.