I’m feeling under the weather. I got up this Friday morning and knew right away that it was going to be a battle. My head aches. Come to think of it I didn’t sleep well last night. Not good. Under the weather, indeed.

Which makes me wonder -- where does that expression come from?

Well, I did a little digging around on the Internet and this is what I found:

In a reply to: Feeling under the weather posting online, blogger Scott Cressey on February 09, 2004 responded with the following:

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).

Ok then…there you have it. To be “under the weather” is to be unwell, not feeling yourself, sick, less than prime… We all can relate, to be sure. I hope that you and I get better soon.

GA