Friday, January 17, 2014
20 different words
The common notion that Eskimos have many different words for types of snow has been debunked... it's not different words, it's just phrasal descriptions mashed together as 'words' by arbitrary spelling techniques.
Still, the underlying concept is pretty good. If you're accustomed to one natural event or substance, you become a connoisseur of its subtypes. Pattern recognition requires adaptation and templates, and an occasional event doesn't let you build a template.
This winter Spokane has (so far!) been blessed with very little snow. Not quite the absolute minimum record, but could end up there if nothing changes. Instead of snow, we've had freezing fog. Almost every day. As it relentlessly continues, it shows subtle variations that wouldn't have been observable among the usual scattered handful of instances. Some days the FZFG is easy for walkers and hard for all cars. Some days it's only hard for small pickup trucks. Ford Rangers have to pull over and give up. Some days it's impossible to walk and easy enough to drive. Some days it's worst on sidewalks, other days it's worst on streets. Some days the FZFG is only bad on east-west streets and okay on north-south streets; sometimes vice-versa; sometimes equal in all directions.
Maybe not 20 words, but close to a dozen!
This winter Spokane has (so far!) been blessed with very little snow. Not quite the absolute minimum record, but could end up there if nothing changes. Instead of snow, we've had freezing fog. Almost every day. As it relentlessly continues, it shows subtle variations that wouldn't have been observable among the usual scattered handful of instances. Some days the FZFG is easy for walkers and hard for all cars. Some days it's only hard for small pickup trucks. Ford Rangers have to pull over and give up. Some days it's impossible to walk and easy enough to drive. Some days it's worst on sidewalks, other days it's worst on streets. Some days the FZFG is only bad on east-west streets and okay on north-south streets; sometimes vice-versa; sometimes equal in all directions.
Maybe not 20 words, but close to a dozen!Labels: Heimatkunde
¶ 5:22 AM
