Sick at/to/on/in

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On May 1, 2006, at 6:55 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> What has struck me as weird about my native version, as I've
> learned a bit
> about dialects, is the fact that it's not "sick at *one's* stomach." I
> certainly would never say, in normal, unmonitored conversation,
> e.g. "I hit
> him in the head" or "John punched him in the mouth," as opposed to,
> e.g. "I
> hit him in his head" or "John punched him in his mouth."

my usage for "hit" here is *exactly* the opposite of what wilson
reports, and i know that my judgments are shared by a very large
number of speakers.

as for being sick, i can be sick at my stomach or at the stomach,
though i *think* i'm more likely to use the first.

arnold

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