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Does this Bible verse have the same unfortunate double meaning in American English as it does in British English?

Matthew 14:35, 2011 NIV (US edition)

The photo is taken from the 1984 translation of the (US) NIV. It looks as though the UK edition of the 1984 NIV had the same text; but in the 2011 update, the UK edition has ill in place of sick, while the US edition remains unchanged.

I have visions of people bringing little pots of vomit...

chiastic-security
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    There is absolutely nothing wrong with the excerpt, other than some slightly archaic language. "Sick" means "ill persons" -- this is, even now, a fairly common usage. (I have never heard "sick" used to mean "vomit", though the idiom "being sick" means vomiting.) Expressions like "the sick and lame", though less common than in the past, are still used to refer to hospital clientele. – Hot Licks Jun 28 '16 at 11:57
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    @HotLicks can I ask where you're from? In Britain, sick (n.) certainly does mean vomit. – chiastic-security Jun 28 '16 at 12:42
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    Wherever you are from, it is the Bibble, not the Daily Mirror. –  Jun 28 '16 at 12:45
  • @Josh61 I'm not sure I follow you. My question is just about whether it's a good translation; and that includes not coming across as weird (and putting bizarre and unhelpful imagery in the reader's mind). To me, at least, the language has that effect. – chiastic-security Jun 28 '16 at 12:55
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    @HotLicks In support of the comment from chiastic-security - from ODO: sick - [mass noun] British informal Vomit: e.g. 'she was busy wiping sick from the carpet ...'; 'So, while I cleaned cat sick off the carpet ...'; 'I arrived [to find] both cats outside and a pile of sick in the middle of the sitting room carpet.' – TrevorD Jun 28 '16 at 12:59
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    @TrevorD - But "sick", as used in the excerpt is not only idiomatic in the US, it's somewhat traditional for biblical passages. It's only the British who have this sick understanding of "sick". ;) ("Sick", as a noun referring to vomit, is totally unknown in the US.) – Hot Licks Jun 28 '16 at 13:10
  • I tend to agree with OP. In the UK, the most common usage of sick as a noun is to refer to vomit; and that is my first impression on reading the cited passage - altho' of course it does not take long to appreciate the intended meaning. The two UK dictionaries I checked (ODO (BrE & AmE) & Chambers) for sick as a noun, only give 'vomit' as a meaning. The title Q. "Does this ... sound .. weird to American ears ..." apparently remains unanswered. [P.S. This comment crossed with the one from @HotLicks.] – TrevorD Jun 28 '16 at 13:13
  • @HotLicks I think that answers the main Q. (altho' I'm a little surprised that a modern version of the Bible should be using "traditional" language), noting that ODO AmE does not include that usage. [Amendment to now-deleted comment.] – TrevorD Jun 28 '16 at 13:25
  • Perhaps this Bible passage is specifically intended to mean, for the British, that people brought all their vomit to Him and let it touch his cloak. After all, why should The Word not be special for the British? – Drew Jun 28 '16 at 15:03
  • @chiastic-security Knowing what you know now, from the Answers below, what would you use in place of sick? – eyoung100 Jun 28 '16 at 15:27
  • @eyoung100 the 2011 update's ill seems like a good improvement for the UK edition. Whether that's unidiomatic in AmE, I couldn't say. (There's a cost to maintaining differences between the two editions, so if there's an option that works for both, it's better to use it.) – chiastic-security Jun 28 '16 at 16:07
  • I'm a Brit and I somewhat agree with Hotlicks, the usage is not uncommon in this sort of text - although it must be said that without context it does conjure an amusing image. I'd expect to see something like "bring their sick, their weak, their poor to him" which makes it a bit clearer which way it's intended. The word "sickly" might be a better substitute in place of "ill", which could of course refer to rappers... – John U Jun 28 '16 at 16:29
  • I've edited the question so that it's objective, and not opinion-based. – chiastic-security Jul 01 '16 at 09:17

4 Answers4

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The referent is just elided here. You can read this as meaning "sick [friends]" or "sick [relatives]." The reason it sounds odd to British ears is that the current British colloquial usage of "sick" as a euphemism for "vomit" is overpowering any other interpretation for you.

Since that colloquial usage is relatively unheard of in America, you are correct that the phrase sounds less odd to American ears. Perhaps that did influence the translation choices made by the NIV.

Chris Sunami
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    The British noun usage is colloquial, rather than slang, according to my OED. So it may not be truly 'formal' but nor is it extremely informal or regarded as particularly vulgar. – Spagirl Jun 28 '16 at 14:23
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    "...Since that slang usage is not common in America.." I'd venture: "almost completely non-existent". *"Sick"* has many meanings in AmE, but a noun for "puke" ain't one of 'em. – Oldbag Jun 28 '16 at 14:33
  • Can confirm that this sounds normal to this American, and this is the first I've heard of the British usage. – jpmc26 Jun 28 '16 at 15:52
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    I've heard "sick" used to refer to vomit in older AE books. I want to say it was southern literature. However, I agree with the overriding sentiment that this sounds perfectly natural in AE. – Kevin Jun 28 '16 at 15:58
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    As a native American English speaker, I've never even heard "sick" as a synonym for "vomit" until this thread. TIL! The phrase "bring your sick", while sounding a little archaic, makes perfect sense to me. – Nate Barbettini Jun 28 '16 at 16:17
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    @Oldbag Sick comment! :-) – Peter K. Jun 28 '16 at 16:40
  • Whoa, that's sick – TOOGAM Jun 29 '16 at 01:41
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Their sick is a noun phrase without any noun and with an adjective functioning as Head of the phrase. These are referred to by The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language as fused Modifier-Head constructions. We most usually see these with a definite article:

  • the good, the bad and the ugly
  • the rich
  • the poor
  • the blind

Occasionally, however, they can occur with genitive pronouns in Determiner function. In this particular case, a modern reader might find their sick vaguely unidiomatic. However, we often see fused Modifier-Head constructions with sick in combination with the adjective wounded

  • their sick and wounded

Here's a couple of examples from printed books:

  • If captured, permanent medical personnel and chaplains, although detained, will continue to care for their sick and wounded.

  • We have never made the slightest difference between our own men and confederate prisoners when their sick and wounded have been in our hands.

I personally also find the Original Poster's example awkward. But that's just my personal opinion.

Araucaria - Him
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It is an archaic but correct usage:

Sick (n.)

  • "those who are sick," Old English seoce, from sick (adj).

sick (adj.)

  • "unwell," Old English seoc "ill, diseased, feeble, weak; corrupt; sad, troubled, deeply affected," from Proto-Germanic *seukaz, of uncertain origin.

(Etymonline)

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For any colonial friends, it would sound very natural indeed, because of

Bring me your tired, your poor, your ...

huddled masses, et cetera.

It is the same construction, omitting "persons," and implying group.

Note too that "wounded" is also very commonly used in this way. "Bring me your wounded," "Bring the wounded here..."

{Thanks to action movies that such phrases exist outside a limited circle!}

Chiastic, regarding your question I'm surprised it sounds unusual to you - reads totally normally to me in BrE.

(The fact that "sick" can also mean "vomit", or indeed be an adjective, "I'm sick", and nowadays most commonly means "well-executed skateboard move" - so what? English is incredibly ambiguous at every turn, it's not even worth mentioning when you see a sentence which has a humorous alternate meaning, you know?)

(For example, the immediately preceding sentence happens to have a humorous Monty-Python interpretation ... sending word to the "country": you can picture Eric Idle addressing a large green field and trees.)

Fattie
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