Friday, April 27, 2007
Feeling under the weather?
A coughing coworker was saying how he was feeling a little under the weather today. I always thought that was a curious, and stupid, saying. Yet eveyone says it. We all know what it means, but why does it mean that? The sky is pretty high up there. Unless you’re in an airplane, you’re always under the weather. Does this mean if you’re sick, and you get into an airplane and get above the clouds, you’ll automatically feel better because you’re now over the weather?
Silly, I know, but then again so is the phrase. I wanted to get to the bottom of this, because I don’t want to be one to perpetuate things that make no sense, so I looked up its origins. Apparently, back in the nautical days of yore (whenever that was, back when it was more common to travel by boat), people often got seasick on the rocking boat when the weather was stormy. They would send these people below deck. That was the first explanation I read. It still made no sense. You wouldn’t be under the weather, you’d be under the deck.
Further investigation yielded better explanations. During inclement weather, there were usually high winds. These high winds would not only toss the boat around, it would also cause your vomit to fly where it shouldn’t. Yeah, ew. No wonder they were sent down below. The deck was often called the weather deck. Ding! Finally, it all makes sense. You were sent below the weather deck, so you could toss your cookies under the bad weather and not coat yourself and everyone else with the nastiness. Now I’m satisfied. The phrase finally makes sense to me, and I don’t have to make fun of people who use it anymore. Yay.
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Categories: • Thinking aloud