# Toothache - my tooth aches or hurts



## marinesea

hello,

what is the coorect way to say: 
my tooth aches or 
my tooth hurts?

if both phrases are correct, is there any difference in the meaning then?

thank you


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## beri

in my opinion, I personally think that it seems to me that both are correct.
If there is any difference, I would say "aches" is more passive than "hurts"


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## panjandrum

Both are correct.

Is there a difference?  There is for me, but that could be personal.

My tooth hurts = acute pain.  
My tooth aches = chronic pain.


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## meili

Both are okay, but I think I usually hear 'My tooth aches.'

Difference (for me)? I think hurt is more detrimental than ache.


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## Sophie Elizabeth

The set phrase for a pain in the tooth is a "toothache" but yes both are correct and I would agree with panjandrum's distinction


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## Oros

I have a tooth ache.

Should it strictly be ' I have tooth aches'?

You have a pain or rather unbearble pain somewhere in your teeth. So I would always say 'I have a tooth ache'.

If I have a pain in the upper jaw and one in the lower jaw, I will say I have tooth aches. This is not the case. You always get a pain in one spot/place.

I am surprised to learn the words 'tooth aches'.


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## la grive solitaire

Hi Oros,

I've rarely heard it in the plural--"toothache*s*-- since it's usual to have only one toothache at a time.   I suppose that you could say, I have toothaches from time to time.  Here (AE) you say, "My tooth hurts" or I have a toothache (one word).


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## meili

My tooth aches - meaning that my tooth is still aching.
I agree with la grive solitaire. 
I have a tooth ache. - Never seen this written before.


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## panjandrum

My tooth aches.
I have a toothache (one word) click for dreadfully detailed definition.
OR
I have dreadful toothache.  Certainly when I really have toothache I don't much care whether it is one tooth or more and it feels like it's my entire being anyway.


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## elroy

panjandrum said:
			
		

> My tooth aches.
> I have a toothache (one word) click for dreadfully detailed definition.
> OR
> I have dreadful toothache. Certainly when I really have toothache I don't much care whether it is one tooth or more and it feels like it's my entire being anyway.


 
Do you say "I have toothache," without "a"?


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## daviesri

elroy said:
			
		

> Do you say "I have toothache," without "a"?


 
No you would not. The proper statement would be "I have a toothache".

At least in AE.  I cannot speak for those in the UK.


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## meili

elroy said:
			
		

> Do you say "I have toothache," without "a"?


We say 'I have 'a' toothache'


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## Amityville

yes, he does, Elroy. So do I.



			
				panjandrum said:
			
		

> My tooth aches.
> I have a toothache (one word) click for dreadfully detailed definition.
> OR
> I have dreadful toothache. Certainly when *I really have toothache* I don't much care whether it is one tooth or more and it feels like it's my entire being anyway.


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## elroy

Interesting.  British-American difference, then?


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## Amityville

It must be yes. In the UK, we can have toothache, earache and belly/tummyache without 'a' but it it always 'a headache'. 
Racking my brains as to why, I think it is proper illnesses and conditions that don't have an 'a' eg chickenpox, gout, halitosis. Those which do have an 'a' are obviously singular eg a hernia or kidney stone, or something shortlived like a cold (we won't mention the flu for the moment), so maybe the reason for the 'a'-lessness is that we sometimes view those aches as chronic states and if we put an 'a' on then we are being less dramatic about it. Just a theory - or am I away with the fairies ?


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## foxfirebrand

Never heard "I have toothache" but put in the context of other ailments (you had to mention gout?) I see the wiggle room for regional differences.

How about definite articles? The dropsies, the bends, the DTs? Do/does the blues count?

Maybe it's a ruralspeak thing. For those of you who know the hayseed sitcom "The Andy Griffith Show," there's a scene where Andy and Barney double date, and of course Helen has to dig up a friend for Barney. She's a mousey librarian type who doesn't want to do any of the suggested activities, always has a whiny excuse. One of which is, "Oh I never go out in the sun, it gives me the herpes!"

I once had to watch just about an entire rerun cycle so I could get that one on tape and win a bet. Speaking of excuses, and illiterate usage, I suppose "Sorry, I have a herpy" qualifies as both.


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## elroy

Amityville said:
			
		

> It must be yes. In the UK, we can have toothache, earache and belly/tummyache without 'a' but it it always 'a headache'.
> Racking my brains as to why, I think it is proper illnesses and conditions that don't have an 'a' eg chickenpox, gout, halitosis. Those which do have an 'a' are obviously singular eg a hernia or kidney stone, or something shortlived like a cold (we won't mention the flu for the moment), so maybe the reason for the 'a'-lessness is that we sometimes view those aches as chronic states and if we put an 'a' on then we are being less dramatic about it. Just a theory - or am I away with the fairies ?


 
You're right.  I definitely think of "a toothache" as a singular, isolated event.  I would say "I have (been having) tooth pain" if I wanted to emphasize the condition as chronic or long-lasting.  Same goes for the other body parts.


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## panjandrum

Amityville said:
			
		

> yes, he does, Elroy. So do I.


Thanks Amity - Of course I meant what I said 

I wondered a bit about that before posting - and deliberately used the a-less version to see what happened. Looks like another entry in the AE/BE log.

Well, fascinating, as usual, to see the responses. We BE-speakers, you see, truly understand that toothache is very, very difficult to pin down to a particular tooth. Now we might have invented teethache , but no, we agreed - through that great collective subconscious, that a-less toothache perfectly describes that indescribably agony when you have no clue when the world will end but wish it would be soon - that is toothache.

Hey, maybe it is because you AE-speakers have all those porcelain-white orthodontised teeth? 
Maybe it's because we BE speakers have jiggly, uneven yellowing fangs (can never find an NHS dentist, can't afford the real thing)? We know what REAL toothache is


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## foxfirebrand

I can clearly see that _toothache_ is a condition, and deserves no lesser status.  Even an AE speaker wouldn't say "I have a malaise," would he?  I mean we.


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## elroy

foxfirebrand said:
			
		

> I can clearly see that _toothache_ is a condition, and deserves no lesser status. Even an AE speaker wouldn't say "I have a malaise," would he? I mean we.


 


> “One year after the crash, the markets remain mired in a deep malaise” (New York Times).


 
What about that?


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## Amityville

I have an infection - keep away! - an illness, an ailment, a condition, a complaint, a certain malaise. 
 Being BE (I hope that's why) I don't understand what you mean in your last post, ffb - is it a joke ?  As someone who seems to be almost British in their Americanness, do you have gleaming white orthodontised teeth ?

Panja, I will only speak for you if I am reasonably sure and am cornered, thought you must have been out applying anaesthetic/whiskey chaser to your condition.


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## panjandrum

elroy said:
			
		

> What about that?


Not the same thing at all.
I would, if only I could, explain grammatically why it isn't.
But you're right just the same.
On the other hand, so is ffb.
I mean, who in their right mind would *say* to anyone "I have a malaise" OR "I have malaise"  

Two rights do not make a wrong.

 Amity


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## foxfirebrand

I think the interjection of an adjective is pertinent.

"I suffer from depression."
"I suffer from a virulent depression."  

If you wanted to say you had a bad toothache, how would you get around the use of a definite article, say "a bad case of?"

Obviously my conjectures are those of an outside observer, re BE usage.  It did occur to me, after using _malaise_ as an example, that Jimmy Carter's infelicitous exact words on the subject were "a national malaise."

Which brings me to wonder-- would a BE speaker say "I have pain in the arse?"


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## Amityville

Malaise is a funny word anyway being foreign. 

"A pain in the arse."  Yes, we do say that, and not "a pain in an arse", whch would be an ethereal platonic kind of arse.
But if you really had a pain of that nature and had to present it to a doctor you might say, "I have pain in the...mmm, better say nether regions."


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## panjandrum

foxfirebrand said:
			
		

> Which brings me to wonder-- would a BE speaker say "I have pain in the arse?"


Purely in the interest of language clarity, I would like to point out that "pain in the arse" would never appear naturally in that context. It is grammatically inconsistent with the first person singular and plural.

To elaborate, it functions only as:
----
You are a pain in the arse.
He is a pain in the arse.
----
You are a pain in the arse.
They are a pain in the arse.

Note the eccentricity of plural/singular.


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## panjandrum

Amityville said:
			
		

> But if you really had a pain of that nature and had to present it to a doctor you might say, "I have pain in the...mmm, better say nether regions."


.. you'd get as far as "...the...mmmm" and then point.


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## Amityville

Can't write - too busy picturing the scene - you'd have to stand up especially to point.


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## foxfirebrand

amityville said:
			
		

> .. As someone who seems to be almost British in their Americanness, do you have gleaming white orthodontised teeth ?


 
Well, I elected to eschew tooth jokes, even in this context-- too much humorless Anglophobia passes for rumination on the topic, that and cuisine.  I'll take the reference to hybridis/zation as a high compliment, though, thanks.

I think my dental condition reflects a mixed heritage too-- I was subjected to a typically American regimen, but had a mother who said things like "hie yourself down to the dentist."

"Almost British" in spite of all the times I've gotten beat?


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## panjandrum

Amityville said:
			
		

> Can't write - too busy picturing the scene - you'd have to stand up especially to point.


Uh-uh.  With a condition of that nature, you wouldn't have gotten around to sitting down in the first place.


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## Amityville

Yes,ffb, but please don't ask me to justify it, I didn't mean to be neon-lit . An interesting condition,, though. Note "an" - still on-topic.


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## Amityville

'Gotten'  Panja ? What the gehenna's gotten into you ?


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## panjandrum

Amityville said:
			
		

> 'Gotten' Panja ? What the gehenna's gotten into you ?


Sorry, I got cross-threaded.


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## elroy

panjandrum said:
			
		

> Sorry, I got cross-threaded.


 
Beautiful neologism!


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## Thomas1

I was wondering over the a-lessness and ask myself why you say _a headache_ and you don’t use the indefinite article with the rest aches. Can’t _headache_ be chronic? This is strange. Anyway, do you—British English speakers use _a_ as well with aches? Or do you always avoid the _a_ with all but a headache?
 
Many thanks,
Tom


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## beginner-questions

Hi there 

is it also possible to say:
My tooth is aching? or has it to be _'My tooth aches'?_


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## Packard

Oros said:


> I have a tooth ache.[...]



This is the way I would phrase it if I had a toothache. (Which my spell checker accepts as one word).  It is the same format as a headache.

You rarely hear someone say, "My head aches."  You often hear them say, "I have a headache.


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## beginner-questions

so, that means that: *'*My tooth *is aching*.' Is not used and doesn't make any sense?


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## Packard

beginner-questions said:


> so, that means that: *'*My tooth *is aching*.' Is not used and doesn't make any sense?



For some reason "my back is aching" sounds OK but "my tooth is aching" does not.  I cannot explain it.


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## beginner-questions

ok, thank you  it helps


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## You little ripper!

_My tooth is aching_ makes perfect sense in Australian English, but _I've got a toothache_ is definitely more common. _I've got a sore tooth_ is another one you hear quite often.


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## Forero

Toothache is tooth pain; a toothache is an episode of tooth pain. I would normally say "My tooth hurts" or "My teeth hurt" for an acute toothache but "My tooth aches" or "My teeth ache" for a duller or longer lasting toothache.


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