Talking about Hot Weather Around the World
2024-06-14
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1In a recent Everyday Grammar, we showed how to use three grammatical structures to talk about hot weather.
2They are phrasal verbs, collocations, and metaphors.
3In this lesson, we review some examples that you have sent to us at Learning English.
4Arunabh wrote to tell us some expressions used in San Francisco.
5Let us start with a phrasal verb, to "cool down."
6It means to move toward a lower temperature.
7This phrasal verb can be used either as a transitive verb (one that needs an object) or an intransitive verb (one that does not need to have an object).
8In the intransitive sense, you may hear the statement Arunabh sent:
9I hope it cools down soon; it is too hot here.
10In the transitive sense, the two parts of the verb, that is, the verb "cool" and the preposition "down," can be separated, the object coming between them. Here is an example:
11She cooled her tea down with some milk.
12Arunabh gave us another expression that relates to cooking.
13It is not a cooking method, but a sound we hear when foods are put into hot cooking oil: "sizzle."
14Here is the statement:
15The streets are sizzling in the summer heat.
16"Sizzle" gives us an interesting addition to our ways of talking about heat.
17This word is an example of onomatopoeia, or words that copy sounds.
18We find that the meaning of sizzle in our dictionary is "to make a hissing sound."
19"Hiss" is also a good example of onomatopoeia.
20A song by the American singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell uses that word to talk about a sound we often hear in hot weather.
21In her song, The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Mitchell brings to mind the sound of water spraying on grass from mechanical sprinklers in the summertime:
22She patrols that fence of his
23To a Latin drum
24And the hissing of summer lawns
25There is another onomatopoetic word that we can use in hot weather.
26When we sweat in hot weather, drops of water sometimes fall from our bodies and it can make a sound similar to the word, "drip."
27We may then say,
28I'm dripping with sweat.
29Another reader, Haruna, wrote to us with some hot weather expressions common in Japan.
30She tells us that most Japanese usually talk about the weather when they first meet someone.
31The same is true in the United States.
32Americans often talk about the weather to begin a conversation with someone they do not know well.
33Haruna explained that Japanese people can use one or more Chinese characters when writing about heat.
34The first one is simply "hot," atsu (暑).
35To express the degree of heat, another character is placed before it to create a new word.
36Sometimes that changes the pronunciation of the word for "hot."
37For example, extreme heat is mōsho (猛暑)or "steaming hot".
38To describe sweltering heat, Japanese would say ensho (炎暑) which translates as "flaming hot."
39These are metaphors, as we discussed in our earlier story on this subject.
40We also talked about cooking terms used to talk about hot weather such as:
41It's so hot that you can fry an egg on the sidewalk.
42In Japan, this is common, too.
43A new word has come into use 猛暑日 mōsho-bi, which means a "steaming hot day."
44A Japanese person might say:
45It is hot enough to steam a pork bun on the sidewalk.
46Finally, Haruna says that in weather forecasts, these words are connected to certain temperatures:
47When the temperature is over 25 degrees, it is a summer day, or 夏日 kajitsu.
48When it is over 30 degrees, it is a hot summer day, or 真夏日manatsu-bi.
49And when the temperature rises over 35 degrees, it is an extremely hot day, or 猛暑日 mōsho-bi.
50If the temperature rises to over 40 degrees, it is a cruelly hot day, or 炎暑日 ensho-bi.
51Thank you, Arunabh and Haruna, for sharing your hot weather expressions with us.
52We hope all our listeners and readers will find good ways to stay cool in the hot days ahead.
53And that's Everyday Grammar!
54I'm Jill Robbins.
1In a recent Everyday Grammar, we showed how to use three grammatical structures to talk about hot weather. They are phrasal verbs, collocations, and metaphors. In this lesson, we review some examples that you have sent to us at Learning English. 2Phrasal verb 3Arunabh wrote to tell us some expressions used in San Francisco. Let us start with a phrasal verb, to "cool down." It means to move toward a lower temperature. 4This phrasal verb can be used either as a transitive verb (one that needs an object) or an intransitive verb (one that does not need to have an object). In the intransitive sense, you may hear the statement Arunabh sent: 5I hope it cools down soon; it is too hot here. 6In the transitive sense, the two parts of the verb, that is, the verb "cool" and the preposition "down," can be separated, the object coming between them. Here is an example: 7She cooled her tea down with some milk. 8Onomatopoeia 9Arunabh gave us another expression that relates to cooking. It is not a cooking method, but a sound we hear when foods are put into hot cooking oil: "sizzle." Here is the statement: 10The streets are sizzling in the summer heat. 11"Sizzle" gives us an interesting addition to our ways of talking about heat. This word is an example of onomatopoeia, or words that copy sounds. We find that the meaning of sizzle in our dictionary is "to make a hissing sound." 12"Hiss" is also a good example of onomatopoeia. A song by the American singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell uses that word to talk about a sound we often hear in hot weather. In her song, The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Mitchell brings to mind the sound of water spraying on grass from mechanical sprinklers in the summertime: 13She patrols that fence of his 14To a Latin drum 15And the hissing of summer lawns 16There is another onomatopoetic word that we can use in hot weather. When we sweat in hot weather, drops of water sometimes fall from our bodies and it can make a sound similar to the word, "drip." We may then say, 17I'm dripping with sweat. 18Talking about weather in Japan 19Another reader, Haruna, wrote to us with some hot weather expressions common in Japan. She tells us that most Japanese usually talk about the weather when they first meet someone. The same is true in the United States. Americans often talk about the weather to begin a conversation with someone they do not know well. 20Haruna explained that Japanese people can use one or more Chinese characters when writing about heat. The first one is simply "hot," atsu (暑).To express the degree of heat, another character is placed before it to create a new word. Sometimes that changes the pronunciation of the word for "hot." 21For example, extreme heat is mōsho (猛暑)or "steaming hot". To describe sweltering heat, Japanese would say ensho (炎暑) which translates as "flaming hot." These are metaphors, as we discussed in our earlier story on this subject. 22We also talked about cooking terms used to talk about hot weather such as: 23It's so hot that you can fry an egg on the sidewalk. 24In Japan, this is common, too. A new word has come into use 猛暑日 mōsho-bi, which means a "steaming hot day." A Japanese person might say: 25It is hot enough to steam a pork bun on the sidewalk. 26Finally, Haruna says that in weather forecasts, these words are connected to certain temperatures: 27When the temperature is over 25 degrees, it is a summer day, or 夏日 kajitsu. 28When it is over 30 degrees, it is a hot summer day, or 真夏日manatsu-bi. 29And when the temperature rises over 35 degrees, it is an extremely hot day, or 猛暑日 mōsho-bi. 30If the temperature rises to over 40 degrees, it is a cruelly hot day, or 炎暑日 ensho-bi. 31Thank you, Arunabh and Haruna, for sharing your hot weather expressions with us. We hope all our listeners and readers will find good ways to stay cool in the hot days ahead. 32And that's Everyday Grammar! 33I'm Jill Robbins. 34Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for Learning English. 35____________________________________________________ 36Words in This Story 37sizzle - v. to make a hissing sound like the sound water makes when it hits hot meta 38hiss - v. a sound like a long "s" or the sound food makes when put in a hot pan 39sprinkler - n. a device that is used to spray water on plants or soil or a device in a building that sprays water if there is a fire 40patrol - v. to walk or go around or through (an area, building, or the like) especially in order to make sure that it is safe 41sweat - v. to produce a clear liquid from your skin when you are hot or nervous 42drip - v. to fall in drops 43character - n. a symbol (such as a letter or number) that is used in writing or printing 44How do you talk about hot weather where you live? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.