Feeling 'Under the Weather'?

Today, we talk about feeling sick. We have all felt sick at some point in our lives. And our condition can go from one extreme to the other. If I am very sick, you could say I am as sick as a dog. Other times I may feel good enough to go to work, but still not great.

When I feel tired, worn out or just a little sick, I can say I am feeling under the weather.

This is probably the simplest, most common way to say, "I don't feel well." In fact, I could not think of another phrase that expresses the same meaning as well as "under the weather" does.

When you are under the weather, your condition is not serious. You do not need to be in a hospital or see a doctor.

Now, bad weather can affect your health. For example, if I'm caught in a cold rainstorm for several hours without proper protection, I very possibly will get sick. But why do we say under the weather when we're sick? That just sounds strange.

To find out, I turned to a publication called Farmers' Almanac. Farmers' Almanac is not really meant for language learners. It was founded in 1818 to help American farmers understand more about the natural world around them as they grow and harvest their crops. That is still its purpose today.

The Farmer's Almanac website tells about all things weather-related – from average snowfall totals to phases of the moon to advice for fishing on a rainy day. So, if an idiom is weather-related, it probably will be explained in the Farmer's Almanac!

To explain, "under the weather," the website published the writing of Richard Lederer, a word expert. Lederer notes that the expression "under the weather" comes from the language of sailors.

Esha Serai travels along as some girls from South Carolina go on a confidence-building trip on board a sailing ship. Imagine being on a boat on rough seas. The waves continually force the boat up and down and side to side. This continual movement can make many people feel seasick.

听力来源：VOA
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