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I often hear idioms and wonder where they came from. Today, I learned that the phrase "under the weather" was originally used in reference to people who went below deck on boats during rough weather to try to recover from sea-sickness. By going below, they were literally going "under the weather" where the rocking of the boat wasn't so bad.
No wonder people think English is hard!
A co-worker also recently told me that "rule of thumb" comes from the old days where you were allowed to beat your spouse with a stick so long as it was smaller in diameter than your thumb. I'm working hard to erase this phrase from my vocabulary.
I don't know if these origins are correct, but they sure make you think!