0

Someone is telling about how she has bought a weigh-loss jab and had to be hospitalized. She says:

"I thought why not give it a go. It sounds really good. Everyone's losing weight on it." ITV-This morning (see 1:38-1:42)

The expression "....losing weight on it?" caught my attention. From the context I understand that "....on it" at the end of the sentence means "... by it" or "...through it?"

But I wonder if it is colloquial, because I've not seemed to come across this usage?

Improve this question
5
  • Without watching the clip, I'm guessing "it" refers to Ozempic. You lose/gain weight on a diet which could be a fad diet, or in this case, medicine.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Oct 9 at 6:47
  • @Mari-LouA - It seems quite an obsession with some people in the UK. There are a bunch of these injectable meds - Wegovy and Ozempic (both are semaglutide) and Moujaro (tirzepatide, a newer drug). People who don't qualify for an NHS prescription on diabetes or BMI grounds (30 to 35) are paying for them online.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Oct 9 at 7:02
  • @MichaelHarvey I watched the video, and it amazes me that anyone can inject themselves with an unknown and unprescribed concoction and not even for a milli-second consider the possible side-effects. The product was purchased online and cost a mere £20, I mean–What?! What is happening to common sense (if it's too good to be true, it isn't) and the the education system in the UK? Vanitas vanitatum...
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Oct 9 at 7:10
  • @Mari-LouA - Being charitable, there are no lengths to which desperate people will not go. You can provide education but it is often not well absorbed, and Nature does not bestow common sense equally. Look at people who believe stories about migrants eating pets. Or fall for phone, social media or email scams. There also people flying to Turkey for boob jobs or butt lifts, and dying in the plane on the way back, or having liquid butt lifts that spread and give them a fatal heart attack. To be clear, the woman in the story fell for a scam. You can't 'buy' genuine weight-loss injections for £20.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Oct 9 at 12:19
  • Meanwhile, in Mauritania, they're fattening up pre-pubescent girls on a diet of condensed milk and bread, several liters and loaves a day, so that by the time they're fifteen, their plumpness makes them look as sexually mature as a twenty year old.
    – TimR
    Commented Oct 9 at 12:26

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
4

"Everyone who is 'on' this medication is losing weight." This is on in the sense 'regularly taking [a drug]'.

Improve this answer
2
  • Ahhh I understand now. So she actually says "Everyone on it is losing weight."
    – Yunus
    Commented Oct 9 at 6:58
  • She actually says the words you quote, but a listener familiar with the expression 'on [medication] understands what she means.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Oct 9 at 7:03
1

To be on a substance means to currently use that substance on a regular basis.

Improve this answer
2
  • I had already said that!
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Oct 9 at 14:12
  • I said it in a more general, more comprehensible way.
    – Johnny Wezel
    Commented Oct 9 at 15:55
0

Preposition on can introduce a regimen: a diet (weight-loss or weight-gain), a fast, regular medication, muscle-building exercise plan, etc.

Or a habit.

He's on meth.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .