Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[calcaneous]

I came across this new expression today.

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"Why so blue?"
"Don't ask. I'm ----feeling the pits----. I've been passed over for promotion again."

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1. Does this expression mean the same as "to feel like crap"? (because some fraustrating incident happend to you?)

2. Does it sound formal?

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I tried to look this phrase up in my dictionary, but all I could find was the
following:

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If you ----have a feeling in the pit of your stomach---, you have a sick or tight feeling in your stomach, usually because you are nervous or afraid

Ex) I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something terrible was going to happen.

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3. Are both phrases similar in meaning?

(To me, the two phrases don't seem to be used in the same context. One is about getting nervous; the other is about feeling fraustrated.)

[Suzanne]

Hello,

You did a great job figuring these out!

You are correct: they mean different things.

Feeling the pits means the same as feeling like crap. It means to be frustrated or discouraged or depressed. It is not a formal expression, but a phrase that would be used in casual conversation.

"The pain is terrible. I'm feeling the pits."
"After a hard day at work, he went home feeling the pits."

A pit in the stomach means to be nervous or have a feeling of dread. You feel it in the bottom (pit) of your stomach.

"After everyone said good-bye, I was left alone with a pit in my stomach."
"When I heard about the earthquake in China, I got a pit in my stomach, because I have friends in that city."

[calcaneous]

Thank you so much, Suzanne.

This has been bothering me for a while. :-)