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is there an easy way to explain what a state verb is rather than reel off a list, what is the basic difference between a state verb and an active verb and why can't we use state verbs in the ing form. what about McD's 'I'm loving it'.

Of course there is. A state verb refers to a state. Something that is not an actual action.

"Have" is a state of possession for instance, you don't "do" anything. It's a state. Compare this to "walk" where clearly you do do something.

I'm lovin' it is an advertising slogan, they don't have to follow normal grammatical rules.

It is becoming increasingly common to use state verbs in the continous though.
I'm on holiday in the Carribean at the moment and I'm really loving it!

And then there is the apparent arbitrariness of some collocations of have.

Why is 'have a headache' possessive but 'have difficulty' not?

So the original posters question is a very valid one.

On behalf of the Caribs, Stephen: "CariBBean".

I pronounce it CaribBEan, what about you?

What are state-verbs anyway? I'm feeling lucky; he's hating every minute of this; she's freezing.

Are those state verbs? If so the 'rule' is a mule.

Harzer

Mules are very useful animals, and though they may not spawn any offspring, stubbornly refuse to go away:)

The continous tense imples the possibilty of change, since it draws attention to the beginning and the end of the action. It seems to me that the possibility of change is what decides whether the continous can be used or not.

There are some strange exceptions though - one of them is that it seems OK to say
I'm feeling great
but not
I'm feeling awful.

I think it is possible we are coming across a case of language change here. This may be the result of the contionus seeping in from Irish or Irish American English, to other varieties. The problem with language changes is tracking them.

What's wrong with "I'm feeling awful/lousy/sick etc"?

I don't think you can say "I'm feeling a cold coming on", though, because the continuous aspect has been transferred to the verb 'come'.

Similarly, you can't say: "I am loving seeing Bush get egg on his face." This is a mistake typically made by non-English speakers, who having got some insight into the continuous form, overdo it.

Harzer

I am loving seeing Bush get egg on his face

Despite the fact that I am an Englishman with a broom handle permanently rammed up my back passage, it sounds ok to me.

Hence the expression "He swept into the room".

Sounds good to me ( the English, not the broom).

Yes, but the continuous limits things to a temporal framework. That's why we use it to talk about tempory situations. Why would one want to limit one's love of seeing George Bush get egg on his face to a tempory situation. Isn't it an eternal truth?

The broom thing, you'd have to talk about with your therapist and proctologist.

Now, now, don't be silly, if we do not use the "ing" form in that perfectly acceptable example we are not referring to a recent news event - the meaning is rather different.

As Stephen said this is shifting sand (maybe the Indian English speakers dunnit?). Rather than reeling off a list of "state verbs" we are going to have to teach when the continuous form is possible.

I don't really need a therapist. I'm believing that for the time being, anyway.

Yes the overuse of the continuous is typical of Indian English:

"I am being veddy soddy for disturbing you, sahib"

Harzer