The Weather and Feeling Miserable and Scared
This was originally published in January 2014
I'm always interested to hear the weather reports. I not only want to find out what the conditions will be, but I want to hear how miserable and scared I should feel, and weather reporters seldom disappoint on that. Now I realize that extreme weather conditions are a major story, and about ten days ago the eastern part of the country experienced far below average temperatures. Here in Cleveland, a few days later the temperatures rose to the upper 40s and low 50s. Never ones who seem to want to celebrate good fortune when it comes along, the weather people here quickly told us "what was coming." Yes folks, believe it or not, winter did return, but not with a vengeance, at least not yet, but the temperatures actually dropped into the 30s, perish the thought, and there were some snow flurries. One station exaggerated... I mean, reported, how it had been snowing all day and how the temperature was 8 degrees less than the day before. This prompted me to look at the calendar, which to my surprise, told me it was January. I really believe the weather people need to check the calendar at times, just to gain a little perspective. Having been a "northerner" my entire life, I guess I just expect to see some snow and cold temperatures in the winter. I think I'm going to start turning down the sound and just watching the weather reports, rather than listen to all of the hype, as they try with all their might to scare the living hell out of everyone!
I'm sure it's the same in other northern cities, but here in Cleveland, people once took pride in how the population managed winter conditions. Now the weather reports blare out in a voice tinged with the panic of Fred Sanford shouting, "Oh no, this is the big one:" "We might get 2 inches of snow today! And hold on, the temperature might drop to 18 degrees tonight!" The only thing missing from the hysteria is, "YIKES! Stock up on food, water, and extra blankets, and, in spite of how panicked I sound, try to keep calm."
So folks, try to remember, if you live in parts of the country that actually have a good many days with cold or snow and you get a couple of spring like days, DON'T CELEBRATE! I'm sure your local weather person will rush to tell you "What's coming!" Remember, behind every silver lining, there's a dark cloud.
WORD HISTORY:
Gate-English has two such words,^ although one is now archaic, except in some street/place names. Their history is a bit sketchy, but the two are from the same Old Germanic source. If I find other convincing evidence, I'll do a post to make the necessary corrections.
"Gate" goes back to Old Germanic "gatan," but where Germanic got the word is uncertain; in fact, it might be more specifically West Germanic, one of the three branches of Germanic, as some seem to believe the North Germanic forms were borrowed from West Germanic. It originally "seems" to have meant "opening or passage." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "geat," which meant "a hinged barrier for an opening in a wall." When the Old Norse speaking Danes and Norwegians invaded and settled in parts of England, they brought their own forms of the word with them ("gata/gat"), which then became the second English form of "gate," but which meant "passageway," thus giving English the meaning "street," a meaning that is now pretty much confined to street names or places in England, but there might be a few here in the U.S. and Canada. There are various forms in the other Germanic languages, as German has "Gasse" ^^ (a narrow street, lane, alley), Low German has "Gaat" (gutter; that is, path for water), Dutch has "gat" (hole, opening), Danish has "gade" (street), Swedish and Icelandic have "gata" (street), Norwegian has "gate" (street). I could not find a form in modern Frisian, but Frisian once had a form.
^ Actually there are three such words, but the third, still in use, is now spelled "gait," and means "how a person carries themselves when walking."
^^ One of the characteristics of Old High German (the forerunner of modern German) was often the change in "t" to "s," or in this case, to double "s." Another example is English "kettle," but German "Kessel."
I'm always interested to hear the weather reports. I not only want to find out what the conditions will be, but I want to hear how miserable and scared I should feel, and weather reporters seldom disappoint on that. Now I realize that extreme weather conditions are a major story, and about ten days ago the eastern part of the country experienced far below average temperatures. Here in Cleveland, a few days later the temperatures rose to the upper 40s and low 50s. Never ones who seem to want to celebrate good fortune when it comes along, the weather people here quickly told us "what was coming." Yes folks, believe it or not, winter did return, but not with a vengeance, at least not yet, but the temperatures actually dropped into the 30s, perish the thought, and there were some snow flurries. One station exaggerated... I mean, reported, how it had been snowing all day and how the temperature was 8 degrees less than the day before. This prompted me to look at the calendar, which to my surprise, told me it was January. I really believe the weather people need to check the calendar at times, just to gain a little perspective. Having been a "northerner" my entire life, I guess I just expect to see some snow and cold temperatures in the winter. I think I'm going to start turning down the sound and just watching the weather reports, rather than listen to all of the hype, as they try with all their might to scare the living hell out of everyone!
I'm sure it's the same in other northern cities, but here in Cleveland, people once took pride in how the population managed winter conditions. Now the weather reports blare out in a voice tinged with the panic of Fred Sanford shouting, "Oh no, this is the big one:" "We might get 2 inches of snow today! And hold on, the temperature might drop to 18 degrees tonight!" The only thing missing from the hysteria is, "YIKES! Stock up on food, water, and extra blankets, and, in spite of how panicked I sound, try to keep calm."
So folks, try to remember, if you live in parts of the country that actually have a good many days with cold or snow and you get a couple of spring like days, DON'T CELEBRATE! I'm sure your local weather person will rush to tell you "What's coming!" Remember, behind every silver lining, there's a dark cloud.
WORD HISTORY:
Gate-English has two such words,^ although one is now archaic, except in some street/place names. Their history is a bit sketchy, but the two are from the same Old Germanic source. If I find other convincing evidence, I'll do a post to make the necessary corrections.
"Gate" goes back to Old Germanic "gatan," but where Germanic got the word is uncertain; in fact, it might be more specifically West Germanic, one of the three branches of Germanic, as some seem to believe the North Germanic forms were borrowed from West Germanic. It originally "seems" to have meant "opening or passage." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "geat," which meant "a hinged barrier for an opening in a wall." When the Old Norse speaking Danes and Norwegians invaded and settled in parts of England, they brought their own forms of the word with them ("gata/gat"), which then became the second English form of "gate," but which meant "passageway," thus giving English the meaning "street," a meaning that is now pretty much confined to street names or places in England, but there might be a few here in the U.S. and Canada. There are various forms in the other Germanic languages, as German has "Gasse" ^^ (a narrow street, lane, alley), Low German has "Gaat" (gutter; that is, path for water), Dutch has "gat" (hole, opening), Danish has "gade" (street), Swedish and Icelandic have "gata" (street), Norwegian has "gate" (street). I could not find a form in modern Frisian, but Frisian once had a form.
^ Actually there are three such words, but the third, still in use, is now spelled "gait," and means "how a person carries themselves when walking."
^^ One of the characteristics of Old High German (the forerunner of modern German) was often the change in "t" to "s," or in this case, to double "s." Another example is English "kettle," but German "Kessel."
Labels: English, etymology, Germanic languages, TV weather reports, weather, winter
posted by Randy at 7:42 AM
2 Comments:
Glad you posted a new blog. Missed you. Hope everything is ok with U. U have it right with the weather people. I watch, but I generally ignore their hysterics.
thyre ridiculus
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