by unknown on January 1st, 2008

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Why do we ask if someone is feeling "under the weather" when they are ill?

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  • by gtravels loves her life penguin on January 1st, 2008

    gtravels loves her life penguin

    I've heard it goes back to old sailor days. When someone was sick, they'd go below deck so they would literally be "under the weather." The deck was even called the weather deck because it had the most exposure to the elements.

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  • by VSPrasad on January 2nd, 2008

    VSPrasad

    This popular phrase for "ill" dates back to 1827. It is commonly believed that bad weather can make you sick.

    It is an old sailor phrase. When men were sick, they would rest below deck and thus were literally "under" the weather on deck.

    The deck they were under was likely "the weather deck", meaning the most exposed deck on the ship, usually the foredeck (over the seamen's quarters at the front end of the ship) or the quarterdeck
    (where the helm was located, high for a good view). Either way, if you needed to be sick, you wouldn't want to "toss your cookies" where the wind could toss them back in your face, nor would anyone with you want you to do so. You'd be firmly told to "under the weather" to be sick.

    http://www.idiomsite.com/undertheweather.htm

    http://www.goenglish.com/UnderTheWeather.asp

    1. Somewhat indisposed; slightly ill.

    2. Slang a. Intoxicated; drunk. b. Suffering from a hangover.

    http://www.thefreedictionary.com/under+the+weather

    UNDER THE WEATHER - "Ik Marvel, a pseudonym that resulted from a misprinting of J.K. Marvel, was the pen name of American author Donald Grant Mitchell. In his 'Reveries of a Bachelor' (1850) Ik Marvel is the first to record 'under the weather,' which has been a synonym for everything from 'ill and indisposed' to 'financially embarrassed' and 'drunk,' and has even been a synonym for 'the discomfort accompanying menstruation." From "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).

    http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/6/messages/274.html

    Ailing, ill; also, suffering from a hangover. For example, She said she was under the weather and couldn't make it to the meeting. This expression presumably alludes to the influence of the weather on one's health. [Early 1800s] The same term is sometimes used as a euphemism for being drunk, as in After four drinks, Ellen was a bit under the weather.

    http://www.answers.com/under%20the%20weather

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  • by JellyB on June 5th, 2008

    JellyB

    I don't know either! There seem to be a lot of sayings that we just don't know why they are popular, isn't it? :)

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  • by Anonymous on January 18th, 2008

    Anonymous

    Maybe coz we feel like we're under a cloud of misery when we feel sick.

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  • by technios on June 5th, 2008

    technios

    we are under and above, but in the middle at the moment

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  • by technios on June 5th, 2008

    technios

    that was a long moment for me wow wow wow

  • by technios on June 5th, 2008

    technios

    it is whether it makes them feel better or not that we are concerned which is important for them

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