Poor you what does it mean

See more results ». B2 to have very little of a particular substance or quality :. Unfortunately, Iceland is poor in natural resources.

The demonstrators seemed to be from a complete cross-section of society - male and female , old and young , rich and poor. Because of debt repayments , the divide between rich and poor countries is continuing to grow. Fair trade , say Oxfam , is about giving poor people power. When he started he was just a poor boy from the slums - now he's a multimillionaire. We certainly don't lead a life of luxury but we're not poor either. Scarce, inadequate and not enough. B2 not good; being of a very low quality , quantity , or standard :.

Last year's exam results were fairly poor. I was always very poor at maths at school. Dad had been in poor health for several years. At last month's meeting , attendance was poor. This novel is available in large print for readers with poor eyesight. Teachers shouldn't have to take all the blame for poor exam results. The land is so poor here that it cannot support any crops.

The match was abandoned at half-time because of the poor weather conditions. Not of good quality. Time Traveler for poor The first known use of poor was in the 13th century See more words from the same century. From the Editors at Merriam-Webster. Style: MLA. More Definitions for poor. English Language Learners Definition of poor. Kids Definition of poor. Other Words from poor poorly adverb. Get Word of the Day daily email! Test Your Vocabulary. Test your vocabulary with our question quiz!

Love words? I'd like to add that I ignore the etymology of the expression "poor you" or the variant "poor thing" and so on. I searched them but couldn't find anything up to now. About what you wrote in your edit in your question: "go" as in a command, or imperative is a complete sentence.

And it's a grammatically complete sentence. Furthermore, " go " and " you go " are two different tenses, in this case the former being the imperative and the latter being the present tense. If you're asking about the etymology, that's another thing, but hinting that "go" is not grammatically complete is not correct.

Your barber messed up your haircut the day before prom and now you look like a troll doll, poor you! The person is unfortunate because of a bad haircut, not because of financial problems. I suppose it could also be written as:. Your barber messed up your haircut the day before prom and now you look like a troll doll! How unfortunate! How unfortunate for you! There isn't an equivalent of "go home" for "poor you.

In the latter case, poor is an adjective, and you cannot omit you from poor you ; it could be poor you , poor me , poor thing , poor little rich boy , etc. It would be similar to saying "rich you" even though that's not standard, in American or British English. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. What do you say when you pity somebody?

Is there such a phrase as 'Poor you'? English-Ireland top end. Often it is said sarcastically - when someone is complaining about something that you think is quite trivial.

Edit: Alternatively, read tepatria, above. The Scrivener Banned On the "naughty step". Click to expand The Scrivener said:. Yes, nurdug If you feel sorry for someone you can say, "Poor you. Can I get you some pain killers and a glass of water? I could also look after your children if you like. They can come and play with my two, to give you some peace and quiet.

If the person is being self-pitying, one would often hear "Oh, poor baby".