I'm under the weather

Posted by ESC on October 12, 2000

In Reply to: I'm under the weather posted by Daniel Dainty on October 12, 2000

: I am 9 years old and for my homework I need to know the meaning and origin of I'm under the weather. Please help. Thank you.

: Daniel D.

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' 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).

• Under the weather bow ESC 10/13/00