>I am "catching" or possibly "coming down with" a "cold". (Actually it may not
>be rhinovirus: mostly some sneezing and a sore throat so far, but it doesn't
>feel like allergies...)
That sucks. Sorry. Genki de...
>This is obviously very idiomatic: I know that a cold in Japanese is 'kaze' --
>wind -- but I don't off-hand remember the idioms for how one acquires one.
>Or how one happens.
Kaze o hiku. "Hiku", "blow" is used in the sense of "play" wind
instruments, so the word play can invoke bouts of hilarity:
I play the trumpet.
I play the clarinet.
I play the cold.
Ba dumpum, tsch! Har dee har har har.
>If the speakers of your languages suffer from minor ailments and illnesses:
>
>Do they possess the ailment or does the ailment possess them (possibly in
>demonic mode) or does the ailment just happen?\
Many ailments can be verbalized in Géarthnuns, so that you'd end up
with constructions like:
I am tuberculosing.
I am syphilising.
For those afflictions that can't do this, there is a "suffer from"
verb that takes the ailment in the accusative.
>If the speakers are human, what is a "cold" called?
Sans dictionnaire, I can't remember.
>How strict is the
>definition of the set of symptoms that count as a cold?
Not very.
>How do they deal with minor vs severe illnesses? Is there a recognized
>difference between illness (fevers and respiratory problems) and injury
>(mechanical damage like bruises, bone fractures and bleeding) or is it all
>one category?
Illness and injury are different critters, neither of which you
"have" in Géarthnuns ("suffer from" + acc.). Again, I'm at a loss
without my dictionary, but a "bruise" is a "wine stain" in Géarthnuns
("jürau-something").
Kou