I think the British are renowned for their obsession with the weather. This can be very helpful as there is always something to talk about. However, sometimes the effects of certain weather can be embarrassing when the country grinds to a halt over the slightest hint of snow or the wrong leaves stop trains in autumn time. Yes, you read that correctly: the wrong leaves.

Apparently, the fallen autumn leaves combined with British rain stick to the train tracks making it difficult for the trains to maintain grip. This leads to delays and cancellations while tracks have the wrong leaves cleaned from them. If you are like me, you may wonder why the train designers didn’t think about this, but whom are we to question such decisions?

Anyway, with weather in general behaving strangely, I think this is an appropriate topic for the month. Where is our lovely warm spring weather? Why is the UK experiencing a heat wave and allowing my friends to have barbecues and garden parties when they should be wrapped up warmly? Enough, let’s have a look at some weather based vocabulary.

In the UK, we have far more than one word for rain. Terms usually depend on the strength of the rain, the time of year and can also change depending on the area where you live.

Drizzle - This is very fine rain. It doesn’t really fall more than it hovers in the air. You may not feel like you have got very wet but when you arrive at your destination, you are indeed rather soggy.

Mizzle - This is a combination of drizzle with mist. The world around you is hazy and damp and probably cold. This is the type of weather that inspires you to stay indoors.

With hot chocolate.
And a blanket.
And watch DVDs.

Spitting - This is a slightly stronger type of rain. You can see droplets of water that are being affected by gravity, but they are small and they are few in number. This type of rain makes you wonder if carrying an umbrella is necessary or could you risk not bothering? Sometimes it goes away and sometimes it grows into something more substantial.

Shower - This is a definite amount of rain. The drops are small, but steady. We have phrases like April Showers which bring to mind brief life-giving bursts of rain. Usually though, these showers are accompanied by wind that makes the rain travel horizontally into your face.

My Floridian friend introduced me to the term Sun Shower. This is where it is still sunny but raining at the same time. I guess this is when we most often get rainbows.

Rain - It’s about here on the rain scale where the word rain can be used on its own. Average sized drops of water falling from the grey sky making the day wet, and getting a taxi in Seoul that little bit more difficult.

Lashing it down - This is quite severe rain. It is hard and cold and feels like you are being whipped or lashed with water. This is the type of rain we might expect in November in the UK and maybe in August in Korea.

As the raindrops get bigger, we have strange phrases to emphasise the ferocity of the rainfall. Maybe one of the better known is: it’s raining cats and dogs. This is used when it is heavy rain; it has been raining for a while and shows no sign of stopping. This phrase has a mixed and dark history. From what I have found out (http://www.phrases.org.uk/index.html) it comes from a time in England’s history where sanitation was in its infancy. In cities, when heavy rain came, it would wash all the debris and dirt and rubbish along the street. This rubbish would include dead animals such as cats and dogs. I know, not a nice image.

Other phrases we might use to describe heavier rainfall are: a down pour, bucketing down, the heavens have opened and nice weather for ducks. Hopefully, these all inspire images of a LOT of rain, similar to the amount of rain we get here in the summer.

The British don’t stop there. There are more words to incorporate the wind and rain. My favourite word for this would be squall or squally. This word usually describes rain storms by the sea. They are characterised by the gusts of wind that accompanies the rainfall. This means that the rain does not always arrive from above you. It comes in all directions and you can’t use an umbrella as the wind swirls around and pulls it from your hands.

Sleet - This is a cruel and cold type of rain. It is water droplets mixed with mushy snow. It is cold and heavy and sticks to your clothes making you very wet very quickly. It is awful when you are caught outside in sleet as it makes your face hurt due to its icy touch. I have to say, that I don’t think Korea gets this very often…Lucky Korea.

Hail/Hail stones - My friend calls these ‘hard-boiled rain drops’ as they can feel like hard-boiled sweets or hard candy. These are the little balls of ice (well sometimes they can be large chunks of ice) that fall from the sky in autumn and winter times. We get hail when rain clouds are pushed into cold areas of the sky and freeze quickly. I think it is fun to watch hail when you are safe and warm indoors, but it is horrid to be caught in a hailstorm as they can really sting your face.

As you can see, we Brits take our weather conversation very seriously, especially rain. There are many words and phrases, and these are just a small taste. If you go to the UK and travel around the country, you will find that different areas have their own special weather vocabulary. I guess that language grows around experiences and conditions we are most familiar with. And the UK can be quite wet.

Sarah Nelson(Professor, Dept. of General Education)