tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2629301231907528990.post7406131633158335198..comments2024-03-26T18:01:57.609+00:00Comments on Inky Fool: SnowM.H. Forsythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01464964455944509750noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2629301231907528990.post-6297848757561017472010-12-13T04:25:57.481+00:002010-12-13T04:25:57.481+00:00And Steve Pool! You have lied to me.And Steve Pool! You have lied to me.Abbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14169907846873125981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2629301231907528990.post-41742549109996342012010-12-13T04:24:34.901+00:002010-12-13T04:24:34.901+00:00No, the other Washington. The state between Orego...No, the other Washington. The state between Oregon and Canada. Everyone always thinks "DC? Have you ever seen the president?" If you say that you're from Washington. No, I'm talking about the Washington with Sleepless in Seattle and Microsoft and all those people. <br />Washington was originally going to be called "Columbia" because of the Columbia river which forms its southern border. People objected, saying that it would be confused with Our Nation's Capitol and thus dubbed it "Washington." <br />I think the miserable swamp was Virginia, and the swamp made it safe from invasion but also safe for mosquitos.Abbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14169907846873125981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2629301231907528990.post-47878783662962375802010-12-08T16:29:49.453+00:002010-12-08T16:29:49.453+00:00I am always amazed at the mass and heap of words t...I am always amazed at the mass and heap of words that come tumbling out of old books on subjects such as gardening and landscaping and such.<br />I spent an hour on coppicing and pollarding trees, ending up with "bodgering". <br /><br />All very informative terms; not a bit of superfluity nor the nonchalance of wastrel wordiness.Montaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00017648070522030951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2629301231907528990.post-34800692392478684742010-12-04T14:33:06.722+00:002010-12-04T14:33:06.722+00:00I once heard that Washington was built on a swamp ...I once heard that Washington was built on a swamp deliberately, on the basis that nobody would want to live in a place with a climate like that and it would therefore be neutral territory for a capital.<br /><br />I'm afraid <i>mizzle</i> is not a new coinage. In fact, I once wrote a post about the word, you can find it <a href="http://inkyfool.blogspot.com/2010/03/mizzle.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>.M.H. Forsythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01464964455944509750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2629301231907528990.post-27265121861459969102010-12-03T21:06:34.248+00:002010-12-03T21:06:34.248+00:00Call me a hackneyed hack, but Washingtonians certa...Call me a hackneyed hack, but Washingtonians certainly have a lot of words for rain. It falls so consistently that the only way to express variations in amount/intensity is to use a varied vocabulary. <br />"It's more of a drizzle." <br />"It's just...misting." (When it's technically raining but the drops are too small)<br />There's downpours, showers, sheets, monsoons (Not in the actual literal sense, but it's still used a lot), and a bunch of other terms.<br />Our local weatherman Steve Pool also coined a new term: mizzle. <br />I also think that ours is the only weather station to use the term "sunbreaks."Abbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14169907846873125981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2629301231907528990.post-40265623846184563092010-12-02T21:25:19.285+00:002010-12-02T21:25:19.285+00:00I should make it clear that by "Eskimo" ...I should make it clear that by "Eskimo" I mean anybody who lives north of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent_Cross" rel="nofollow">Brent Cross</a>. <br /><br />I am asserting a negative, and doing so at second hand as the Inky Fool budget doesn't stretch to sleighs and snowmobiles. I read it in a book, and have never myself been north of Brent Cross.<br /><br />Eskimo is an exonym meaning <i>eater of raw meat</i>. <i>Inuit</i> just means people. <i>Native</i> is wrong as they came from Siberia. And <i>First Nation</i> is dodgy until this whole <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlapacoya_(Mesoamerican_site)" rel="nofollow">Tlapacoya</a> thing has been sorted out.M.H. Forsythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01464964455944509750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2629301231907528990.post-60826833753280595692010-12-02T17:57:10.867+00:002010-12-02T17:57:10.867+00:00On the other hand, there is such a thing as an Esk...On the other hand, there is such a thing as an Eskimo language.goofyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14760721504519661112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2629301231907528990.post-71235018955534853542010-12-02T16:26:52.220+00:002010-12-02T16:26:52.220+00:00Having lived among Native Alaskans, I can tell you...Having lived among Native Alaskans, I can tell you that there's no such thing as an Eskimo (and they find the term relatively offensive). They're either Natives (in Alaska) or First Nations (in Canada), or referred to by their specific tribe. So to claim that Eskimos have 50 words for snow is silly, since there are tons of different tribes that speak a myriad of languages (one is a close relative of Navajo), in many different climates (ranging from tundra to rainforest).Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10571879047356370430noreply@blogger.com