* cries in bilingual *

[dhampyresa]

Hey, how come English doesn't have a worn meaning "unhealthily pale, most probably because of exsanguination"?

MORE IMPORTANTLY why doesn't French have a word for "confusing"?! Mais que fait l'Académie!

Comments

[conuly]

We do. It's "livid".

[sovay]

"livid".

Agreed. It's used for corpses and the ill.

[ljwrites]

I always associated "livid" with being angry?? *searches* Turns out it has an interesting history and multiple meanings!

[sovay]

Turns out it has an interesting history and multiple meanings!

Interesting! I have encountered it in the sense of anger, but always with the image of pallor, never the 180-flip idea of flushing with rage.

[silverflight8]

I've also always associated it with choler - livid with rage. But people go white with anger too.

[cornerofmadness]

The closest we have is pallor

[sovay]

MORE IMPORTANTLY why doesn't French have a word for "confusing"?!

What do you say when something confuses you?

[st_aurafina]

Livid is a tricky word, because it can also mean reddish in colour. And also enraged.

What about bloodless? Or just pallid?

[ljwrites]

"Sallow" is the first word that came to mind. It doesn't strongly indicate the possibility of exsanguination, though, more like lack of sunlight and/or poor nutrition.

[glinda]

I would use wan to mean pale and unhealthy, it also implies weakness and I associate it with that grey and bloodless look people get before they faint or when they're menstruating...

[silverflight8]

I'm gonna refer to menstruation as "partial exsanguination" from now on.