i have soiled myself

Monday, May 4, 2009

Professional question: When someone says to you "I have soiled myself," does that mean they did #1, #2, both?

My cousin responds:

I am 98% sure that it means exclusively #2 (I think #1 would be, "I have wet myself") though I suppose a #2 would trump #1 in the event of a combination of the two occurring and then they would both count as "soil" - kind of like one masculine noun in romance languages informs the gender of the entire sentence - even if feminine nouns are present. Also, I wonder if the phrase could include vomit? Or would you then just say, "I am covered in my own sick"? These are pressing questions.