Talk:delicate

Delicate in the sense of unwell is not current (or at least not widespread) in the US. It's more in a class with "tidy up*" or "burgle" -- we would understand it and find it colo(u)rful, but probably not use it ourselves (as opposed to say "dog end," which would get mostly blank stares this side of the pond).

(*)I'm having trouble remembering good examples -- we might say "we need to tidy up this room," but I remember my surprise at hearing "this souce code needs to be tidied up". Unfortunately, I've heard enough of both US and English usage by now that it's hard to remember how things registered the first time (a)round.

Hmm . . . "wobbly tooth" (US "loose tooth") would be another borderline case, though I think it may be more current now, thanks to The Grumpy Little Girls

I also can't speak for all regions of the US, or all demographic groups, etc. The whole issue of regional/national usage is very fluid on the boundaries, and "delicate" here is probably on such a boundary.

-dmh 15:10, 16 Mar 2004 (UTC)