Personal Reflection: Ill

The Oxford Dictionary defines the world ‘ill’ simply as “not in full health” or “poor in quality.” However, that is just the common denotation of Ill. Surprisingly, my connotative definition of ‘ill’ is quite positive. Ill is not a common word that people (or maybe only I) use in everyday life.  Instead, I use ‘sick’ or ‘not feeling well’ or just ‘poor’. The times that I use ‘ill’, though, is when I listen to or follow hip hop. As many people are already aware, for rappers, being called ‘ill’ or ‘sick’ is a compliment. It can either mean greatly skilled or just plain cool. Although the word ‘ill’ was originally created to describe a defect, it is quite interesting to see that it is used in a whole other way in the world of rappers. This word, in fact, is a fine example of what Gloria Naylor was trying to describe in her piece, The Meanings of a Word. The same word can mean several completely different things depending on the setting. So, when I am ill, is it necessarily a bad thing?