Sick

The word "sick" has been known for centuries to label someone that is physically ill. The Urban Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary both recognize this word, sick, as a term for describing someone who is not healthy at the time, but the Urban Dictionary has an additional definition or meaning for the word. The history of "sick" can be traced back to the early 1000's. The same meaning has surprisingly stuck for a whole millennium. That record is becoming unheard of for a word to maintain its original meaning for that amount of time. The chain of time has been broken, though.

There is now two additional to the original use of "sick". The common and older version was defined as a person who was suffering from illness. The slang is used to describe something that impresses you or is new, crazy, or daring. Also, it could be describing something bad, as in a prank that was overly rude or crude. This may be identified by a phrase such as, "That joke about her was completely sick." This word could also replace the word cool when referring to an act or material that attracts attention in a good way. An example of this may be, "That trick on his dirt bike was sick." This may be said after a group of people witnessed a new stunt.

The Urban Dictionary is the more modern reference between the two, the other being the Oxford English Dictionary. The Urban Dictionary has the ability to be updated by anyone, as a result it has the most recently updated information. Also, more crude slangs are offered on the Urban Dictionary than the OED, which allows for words to have more interpretations. The usefulness of both sources are limited according to what word is being searched and for what type of definition is being desired. They are both great sources; however, the Urban Dictionary is more geared toward slang and the OED is focused on serious definitions.