September 24th, 2007
Pregnant
I don’t get this saying. I guess alternatives such as “knocked up” don’t really make much sense either, but why is it that there is some sort of falling involved? I can’t remember if I heard this in the US, because it’s been a while since I watched TV there, but here in the UK I’ve heard people on television saying this on several occasions. I will also mention that at least one of the people who said it was American, but I don’t know if she said it because she was tailoring her jargon to a British audience.
Do any of you know the reasons behind this saying? If so, please enlighten me. Oh, and let us know if any of you have fallen pregnant lately.
-Mike
September 24th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
It might be similar to “falling ill?” I know that if I suddenly had a parasite in me for nine months I’d complain about falling ill…
September 25th, 2007 at 1:32 am
I’m english and I haven’t heard anyone saying it, maybe its just around my area that we don’t or something?
But I agree with you, the implied imagery of falling pregnant is weird
September 25th, 2007 at 7:22 am
It’s just one of the (many
meanings of the word fall: to become. As in “to fall silent”, etc.
English is nothing if not flexible
September 29th, 2007 at 6:35 am
I’ve never heard anyone say ‘fallen pregnant’ before. But I haven’t spent that much time in Britain lately and I never really watcht he tv when I’m back.
October 18th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
No, I have never heard that. Just another one of those weird British things, like how you spell jewelry different…jewellery. Funny to see the differences.
April 17th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
The “falling” part signifies that it is accidental, or unplanned. No one wants to fall done the stairs or fall ill but these things just have a way of happening.
I’m not sure about “knocked up”, but I have a feeling that it is used to signify an unwillingness of conception rather than just be unplanned.