I had a conversation with a customer recently about Eskimos having over 50 different words for snow. Apparently this is however just a urban legend. But it got me thinking, since we are so bogged down in the wet stuff here, just how many different words we use for rain.
When you live on the wet coast, I mean the West Coast, you learn to deal with rain, because there are few weeks in the year that we don't participate in ducking and covering. Those few weeks are called Summer. They are short and sweet, humid, and hot.
The phrases that we use to describe rain are creative.
At least you don't have to shovel it.
Liquid Sunshine
April Showers
Periods of Rain
Another wet one
No end in sight
Never Ending
It's Raining Cats and Dogs
We also have very descriptive words for the wet stuff, such as:
Monsoon, damp, cold, drenching, soaking, sopping, slick, precipitation, glistening, showers, droplets, drizzle, spitting.
Most of these come from our daily weather reports on the evening news.
And I am sure that you can come up with some zingers of your own. Be creative, unless of course you are waterlogged.
I always loved the expression "raining cats & dogs" It presents such an image in my mind!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's pouring out there today. This morning it was only misting, but now it's pouring. I want to go back to bed! Yes, their boring old words for it, but I suppose I'm waterlogged today. I'm on the East Coast and even my horses have chosen to hide in the barn. On a positive note: Your photos are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteOH - more fantastic photos of those chimes that I have fallen in love with!
ReplyDeleteYou make the dewy downpour of rain droplets so picturesque.
We are experiencing it--whatever name you choose to call it by. All week without an end in sight. Oddly, or anyway I think it's odd, November is our rainiest month.
ReplyDeleteMarnie
We've had over 4" in the last 24 hours I call it...hmmmm...oh yeah, HELL!
ReplyDeleteNow your photos on the other hand are just heavenly!
Ha! I'm still amazed by the differences in climate in just one province. We get quite a bit of snow in winter but other than that it's usually pretty dry here. Then we go down to the west coast and it's green, green, green and so many different and interesting plants.
ReplyDelete'It's raining stair rods' is common parlance here too.
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky to live on the "west-ish coast" except on the dry side of the mountain. Everytime somebody says "Oregon... oh, it rains there" I get to look at them and reply "Yup. We average 13 inches of rain a year". :)
ReplyDeleteGreat Photos as usual! How about unfrozen snow, or tears from heaven!
ReplyDeleteWe are actually pretty dry right now. But the days are dark and without sunshine. GLOOMY :(
We are on the West Coast in the UK,
ReplyDeleteWe have lots of different sort of rain
Wet Rain
Damp Rain
Big rain
Cold rain
Misty rain
Drizzle
Fine rain
Little rain
Sleeting Rain
Sideways Rain
and so it goes on ...
Lovely photos
K.
Build an Ark, cause it's raining at our house also! But, we need it so badly....this is the second year of drought for Tennessee.
ReplyDeleteGotta say - winter here is rain and 50 degrees. And it's started, sort of. The rain part anyway.
ReplyDeleteWe lived at Vandenberg AFB in Lompoc, California-it was the rainest and foggiest place I've ever lived. But back home in the South we say:
ReplyDeleteSo wet a sponge would drown
Big Fat Drops
Hope the creek don't rise
That's a boat load of water
Deluge
Soggy Bottom Boys
Knee High
That last shot is a gorgeous bokeh! Aren't you proud of me, I used it in a sentence. ;)
ReplyDeleteCindy
Lovely shots & entry!
ReplyDeleteMarie
You can always tell what a culture values or is fascinated by, by the number of words and phrases it has for a thing. For example, eskimos (I am sure there is a more PC term) have many words for snow, Americans have lots of slang for money, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it's funny that the North American west coast is often called the "wet coast" because California is in a pretty serious drought. I think the "wetness" stops at Oregon.
I've been looking at the pictures on your blog and I don't think I've been here before. I think I would have remembered your photography.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is lovely. Very inspiring!
sounds like hard beads dropping on a wood floor -Tessa
ReplyDeleteI'm from Seattle and am writing a blog post almost exactly like yours (that was going to start with the Eskimo thing too) and Googled "words for rain" and found your blog. So I'm not stealing your idea, I'm just totally agreeing.
ReplyDelete~lytha in Germany