Funny and Polite Synonyms for Throwing Up or Vomiting

What to Call Throwing Up: A Guide to All the Synonyms for Vomit

That unpleasant sensation of nausea is all too familiar. When your stomach is churning and you feel like you might hurl, you know you're likely about to vomit or throw up. But when talking about that icky process of puking up your guts, there are actually numerous synonyms you can use besides throw up. Heres an extensive guide to the many euphemistic ways to refer to vomiting or being sick.

Why Use Vomit Synonyms?

Talking about vomiting directly can make people uncomfortable. The concept itself often makes people queasy. So employing substitute words can be more polite and less nauseating for company. Synonyms can also add some humor or creativity to discussing the unpleasant topic.

Using a thesaurus when you feel sick can also help you communicate the urgency of your need to vomit without being overly graphic about it. Euphemisms are useful when you need to politely alert someone you are about to be sick.

Funny and Creative Vomiting Euphemisms

Some of the most popular slang synonyms for vomiting add a touch of lightheartedness. Here are some humorous ways to refer to throwing up:

Ralphing

Making a "ralph" sound effect is associated with the retching that precedes vomiting. So "ralphing" has become a common slang term meaning both the act of vomiting and feeling like you are about to do so.

Blowing Chunks

Describing vomit as chunks pokes fun at the unpleasant appearance of partially digested food. Saying you blew chunks paints a vivid (if somewhat gross) image of exploding vomit.

Driving the Porcelain Bus

This creative euphemism humorously refers to vomiting into a toilet bowl. Your mouth is the "bus" that ejects vomit into the "porcelain" toilet.

Technicolor Yawn

The colorful contents of your stomach during vomiting inspired this descriptive phrase. It humorously paints vomit as a yawn of mutli-hued puke.

The Big Spit

Vomiting does involve a big spit of stomach contents back up and out. This nickname adds a touch of silliness when discussing the messy act.

Calling Earl

Why Earl? No one knows the true origin, but calling Earl has still become associated with vomiting, especially after drinking too much alcohol.

Polite Vomiting Euphemisms

When you need to alert someone you feel nauseous without grossing them out, polite or vague synonyms can be useful. Here are some polite and discreet ways to say vomiting or feeling sick:

Feeling Nauseous

Using the term nauseous or nauseated communicates you feel queasy without directly mentioning vomiting. It's discreet but still gets the point across.

Feeling Unwell

Saying you feel unwell or ill" implies an upset stomach without details. It's a subtle way to indicate you may vomit.

Under the Weather

This old fashioned idiom means feeling slightly sick or weak. It politely hints you feel too sick to participate without graphic details.

Indisposed

If you say youre indisposed, it means you are temporarily sick or otherwise unable to participate in something due to health. This can be used to elegantly bow out of an event if feeling nauseous.

Not Feeling Yourself

Explaining you are not feeling like yourself or not feeling your best conveys you feel ill without saying how. It's an inoffensive way to excuse yourself to vomit.

Clinical and Medical Terms

There are also clinical, scientific terms for vomiting that are recognized medical vocabulary. Using them makes the act sound technical and clinical.

Emesis

In the medical field, the act of vomiting is referred to as emesis. This formal word appears in scientific articles and medical journals to lend an air of gravitas.

Vomiting

While vomiting may not sound technical to laymen, in medical lingo it is the standard clinical term. Using it in place of slang makes the act sound more professional.

Throwing Up

While throwing up seems casual in regular speech, doctors also use this phrase in a clinical way. It's recognized medical shorthand.

Regurgitation

The word regurgitation means expelling material from the mouth, esophagus, or stomach. It's a very technical way to describe vomiting.

Retching

Retching refers specifically to the spasmodic breathing that precedes vomit. Medical professionals use it to describe the lead up act.

Nautical and Seafaring Vomiting Phrases

For some reason, there are quite a few synonyms for vomiting derived from old sailing and seasickness terms. These are colorful ways to describe tossing your cookies.

Feeding the Fish

Vomiting into the ocean while aboard a boat came to be known as feeding the fish. Anytime someone vomits can now be referred to this way.

Chumming

Chum refers to fish bait comprised of fish guts and blood. When seasick sailors vomited, it often attracted fish looking for a meal. Thus, chumming became slang for puking.

Talking to Ralph on the Big White Phone

Sailors coined this phrase depicting vomiting into the porcelain toilet as talking on the white phone to Ralph. It incorporates various vomiting slang.

Tossing Your Cookies

While the origin is debated, this phrase that refers to sailors vomiting up cookie rations. Today tossing cookies just means the act of puking.

Vomiting Euphemisms From Around the World

Every language has its own way to creatively refer to vomiting. Here are vomiting slang terms used in other cultures:

Driving the Little Bus (French)

The French refer to vomiting as driving the little bus or conducting the small orchestra, humorously implying expelling vomit from the mouth.

Returning One's Meal (Farsi)

In Iran, throwing up is sometimes gently referred to as returning ones meal. This polite euphemism refers to giving back recently eaten food.

Open One's Stomach (Japanese)

Japanese vomiting slang references opening or cutting the stomach. This paints a dramatic image of a bursting abdomen.

Puke One's Guts Out (Spanish)

The Spanish use very graphic terms like vomiting the mother or puke your guts out. These visually describe the violent act.

The Geese Have Come Home (Swedish)

Old Swedish slang refers to vomit at the geese have come home to nest. It whimsically equates throw up splatter to nesting birds.

Signs You or Someone Else Might Start Tossing Cookies

Keep your eye out for any of these common signs that vomiting or tossing cookies may soon occur:

• Nausea or feeling queasy
• Cold sweats
• Increased saliva production
• Swallowing excessively
• Hands over mouth or abdominal area
• Gagging motions
• Turning pale or clammy skin
• Dizziness
• Moaning, groaning, or deep breathing
• Retching - spasmodic inhaling motions

At the first signs, discretely get the nauseated person near a restroom or outside. Be prepared with cleaning supplies, hydration, and waste bins. Knowing the many euphemisms for vomiting can help you communicate with sensitivity.

When Vomiting May Indicate Serious Illness

While vomiting is common with mild viral infections like food poisoning, it can also signal potentially serious health conditions. Seek medical help promptly if any of these apply:

• Vomiting blood or green/yellow fluid
• No urine for 8 hours
• High fever
• Confusion
• Sudden, severe pain
• Head injury
• Blood pressure or respiration changes
• Persistent vomiting over 48 hours
• Signs of dehydration - dizziness, dry lips/mouth, fainting

Dont just chalk an episode up to bad food. Vomiting paired with worrisome symptoms warrants rapid medical evaluation. Catching certain conditions early greatly improves outcomes.

Synonyms Galore for Upchucking Your Lunch

However you name it - tossing your cookies, driving the porcelain bus, or talking to Ralph on the big white phone - vomiting is an inevitable nuisance we all deal with occasionally. Having access to a wide vocabulary of vomit synonyms and euphemisms makes discussing the unpleasant topic a little lighter and less nauseating. Just be sure that excessive vomiting is evaluated promptly, as it can signal serious illness in some cases.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.