Where does the term “hang over” come from and what does it really mean?

The term "hang over" dates back to 16th century Britain, during Henry VIII's reign which was peaceful and prosperous era. (Though he was most famous for having six wives, Henry was actually a talented politician and governed deftly. Historians consider his reign one of the most successful of the middle ages). No one took advantage of this national prosperity more than the upper classes. If you look at portraits of Henry as a young adult, you'll see a slim, handsome man. Compare that to the more familiar, portly images of him and you can see that feasting was a frequent occurrence in his many royal residences...as was imbibing in beer and mead.

But back to the question. As you might guess, there was no indoor plumbing in the 16th century. To relieve themselves the wealthy, who typically quartered on the upper floors, would modestly fill their chamber pots and then toss the contents out the window -- or, more likely, had a servant toss it for them. But to regurgitate, they simply went to the nearest window, "hung over" the sill and puked. Apparently, there were a lot of mornings when, due to excessive revelry, the King and his court were compelled to "hang over" the window sill and vomit into the yard.

So now you know.


-----------------------
An update thanks to Poppersmoke:

Here's a related fact: If the medieval reveller was so inebriated that he couldn't get to a window in time, it was not uncommon to just grab a chamber pot and vomit into it. If that pot had been used recently, there was a good chance its contents would splash up onto the person who was puking. Hence, the term "shit faced."