What if it rained and you felt a bit glandy?

[susanna76]

Hi there,

What is this "glandy" business? I assume it means "ready to start crying," but have not been able to find it in any dictionary. Is it common?

Here's from David Nicholls's novel One Day:
"Live each day as if it's your last', that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that? What if it rained or you felt a bit glandy? . . ."

Thanks!

 

[Gwan]

I don't think it's a standard expression, my guess would be that it means "if you have some sort of problem with your glands", such as swollen glands in your neck which might herald a cold. i.e. he's not talking about coming down with bubonic plague or something, just that feeling that you might be getting a bit ill.

 

[susanna76]

I see. Thanks, Gwan!

 

[Parla]

. . . unless, of course, it refers to actual glands and a hormone or two. (Those things in the neck being not glands, actually, but lymph nodes.) Could it be rhyming slang ("randy")?

I've never heard, or heard of, the word.

 

[Andygc]

Could it be rhyming slang ("randy")?

No. I'd take it to mean feeling as though you were developing a sore throat. (They may be lymph nodes, but BE speakers talk about "swollen glands")

 

[susanna76]

Thank you Parla and Andygc!