Is it possible to 'catch a chill'?

Apparently we get many viral infections every year and most of them don't develop into symptoms like runny nose and sore throat. This is based on common cold research.
It is just possible that if you get chilled when you have one of these unsymptomatic infections and you get cold, that your immune system responds by producing some symptoms.
It is also possible that some kind of conditioning has taken place (like pavlov's dogs) and you have an unconscious expectations of symptoms following being cold. And sure enough you get symptoms.
There is also a line of research about cold noses being a better breeding ground for some cold/flu viruses.
Generally cold/flu viruses take about 3 days from initial infection to symptoms. This is because the viruses have to increase in number in your body.

anno I would say it depends on how warmly you're wrapped up in that weather! I like going out in cold weather but if I feel the cold, I've had it. Sometimes I stand on those cold train platforms and realise 'uh, oh, your back is cold, you needed another layer'. And it doesn't mean I'm freezing, it's just a case of 'feeling the cold'. Jeni teehee I like keeping my kidneys warm and that's my excuse to DH for getting into bed in a long nightie

If it's so bad to get cold, why do we always feel so invigorated in crisp, clear, cold weather?

I'm old enough to have had to wear a woolly vest with little sleeves (itch, itch, itch) AND a liberty bodice to protect the kidneys from a chill. And cotton knickers with woolly bloomers. Well, the winter of 1949 was a really bad one so perhaps that's what helped me to survive.

It's rubbish. At boarding school we always had to wear a vest ' to prevent us from catching a chill in our kidneys!'

Once I put on a polo necked jumper in the Autumn I have to wear one till the following spring; if I don't I wear a scarf instead. This is embarrassing because, although I have a lot of clothes I only have a few woolly jumpers of this kind and therefore have to live in them .

I understood the same as vampirequeen. We've got loads of bugs lurking in our noses and throats and when we get cold our resistance goes down. So, a bug can take hold.

Yes definitely nanado . I feel a bit better this morning because I did the Vicks (sorry for the advertisement but being rubbed with it has childhood placebo implications for making me feel better!) All I know is that if my throat and upper chest area isn't wrapped up warm, without fail, I get sick! And that brings me to another grumble, I really struggle to find crew-necked long sleeved tops, they all seem to have scoop neck fronts - why oh why!?

Well if the queen is allowed a 'chill' then surely you can have one too grannyknot?

I always thought a "chill" was just a posh cold - like the Queen gets "Her Majesty was unable to attend church because of a chill" - whereas plebs (Oops, can I still say that?) get colds

I understood that getting cold puts a strain on the body and whilst it's dealing with that some opportunist virus/bug can invade and overwhelm your immune system.

Dr Spock: " while there is no evidence that fresh air can cause a cold, there is plenty to suggest that a chill will make one worse." (My bible when I had DD at the age of 19 and knew nothing about babies, hence the fact that I can still quote chunks of it!))

My sister says the same Grannyknot if there is a cool breeze she goes into her bag and brings out a beret and scarf. I must say she seems to be right and does not get as many chills.