mountain  +  336903 Thu, 08 Mar 07 07:02 AM Could someone please help me with a term where you want to help someone but you can't. Thanks mountain Joined on Tue, Dec 14 2004 Full Member 147

	Clive  +  337307 Fri, 09 Mar 07 05:38 AM Hi, No, 'I'm all tied up' means 'I'm very busy'. How about 'I'm powerless to help you'? Best wishes, Clive Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,629 El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo

	Conchita57  +  338123 Sun, 11 Mar 07 06:00 PM If you refer to what we often feel in such situations, the term you're looking for could be 'impotent' (adjective) or '(a sense of) impotence' (noun). PS: By the way, your question should read: "What's this term called?". Conchita57 Joined on Sat, Mar 10 2007 Madrid, Iberian Peninsula Full Member 315 In the beginning was the word. Nouns

	khoff  +  339243 Wed, 14 Mar 07 04:29 PM You could talk about "a feeling of impotence" in various situations, but be careful -- you do NOT want to to say (for example, to a client) "Sorry -- I'd like to help you but I'm impotent"!  (Usually "impotent" means "unable to perform sexually.")  khoff Joined on Sun, Mar 6 2005 Senior Member 3,272 Native speaker of American English (but not a grammar expert)

	Conchita57  +  339428 Thu, 15 Mar 07 01:29 AM  Khoff wrote: You could talk about "a feeling of impotence" in various situations, but be careful -- you do NOT want to to say (for example, to a client) "Sorry -- I'd like to help you but I'm impotent"!  (Usually "impotent" means "unable to perform sexually.") This just goes to show that context is everything! Conchita57