Such a Pill

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Erica from San Diego.

Well, hello, Erica.

Hi, Erica.

Hi.

What’s going on?

Well, I got a nasty little email from one of my clients at work, and I turned to a coworker who had also received the same email, and I said, man, she is such a pill. And my coworker said, oh, my grandmother used to say that. And it had never occurred to me that it was an old phrase or something that not a lot of people said because it was something that I always heard in my family.

So I was wondering if that phrase is dying out or where it’s going or where it came from.

I don’t think there’s any evidence that it’s dying out. How old are you, Erica, if you don’t mind me asking?

Oh, sure. I’m 29.

Well, Erica, if you’re using it, then it’s alive and well. I don’t think that you have very much in your speech to worry about. It’s not outdated. It does have an old history, though. Can you guess where it comes from?

Well, I’m guessing that it comes from medicine, like a bitter-tasting pill that you wouldn’t want to swallow.

Right. But the key here is it’s something that tastes bitter, but you take because you have to.

Right, exactly. And this is exactly your situation, right?

Right. The person is a client, so you have to put up with their nonsense. So they’re medicine that’s hard to take.

Yes.

So they’re a jagged little pill, huh?

Yeah, yeah. She’s not the best person in the world to work with, but that’s really interesting.

Well, that was very charitable of you, actually, just to call her a pill.

Yeah, I guess I could have chosen some other words.

Yeah.

Oh, that rascally woman. That gel tab.

Oh.

Tell them. They’re fine-y ground powder.

You know what this reminds me of, though, and this is completely unrelated to the language, but did you know that in the old days, and even still, they made medicines taste bad because the idea was if it tasted bad, it probably had to be good for you.

I didn’t know that.

Yeah, this whole idea of syrupy, sugary medicine mixes that we have today, you know, the cherry-flavored, grape-flavored, whatever, forget it. No, they’d put something like, I’m not sure I’m saying this correctly, that’s asafetida?

Asafetida. My dad used to wear that around his neck. A-S-A-F-O-E-T-I-D-A. And this is a nasty smelling thing. It’s a little like anise only, much more bitter.

Yeah. And they’d often put that in there. It’s claimed that that has its own curative powers, but usually it was put in there just because it tastes nasty.

Yeah, my dad used to wear that around his neck. That’s how you warded off the flu back in the hills in North Carolina.

Wow. So bonus information.

Yeah, the stinkier the better.

Right. Well, I guess that makes everything better, which is why the phrase works. Maybe that’s why it isn’t around as much today, or I don’t hear it as much as I guess.

Well, I think it’s around sufficiently that most people would understand you if you said it.

Right. They might not use it themselves, but I think they’re going to know it.

Right. Well, good luck at work, Erica.

Thank you so much.

All right. Take care. Have a good day.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

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