Shutterstock / Julia Sudnitskaya©In Angela’s Editor’s Diary this week, she reflects on a rather wet weather week. And the multitude of words and phrases we have to describe it!
As I sit writing this week’s Editor’s Diary, it’s raining outside.
But as a description, those words completely fail to capture what the weather is actually doing.
The rain is almost unbelievably heavy. It’s pouring . . . raining cats and dogs . . . tipping down. It is actually noisy.
Have you noticed how many words and phrases we use in this country to describe wet weather? That says all you need to know about the Scottish climate!
And there’s just as much variety to choose from when it comes to describing the effects of that rain on our person.
Soaking wet . . . wringing . . . wet to the bone . . .
Well, in the last few days I’ve been all of those! We are definitely going through a spell of “changeable” weather.
And I shouldn’t complain. After an unusually dry summer, we all need water supplies to be replenished.
But did it have to happen quite so dramatically, I wonder, as I peel off yet more wet clothes after a brief foray outdoors.
As I’ve mentioned before in this diary, I started learning Gaelic during lockdown. And though it’s slow going, my efforts continue!
It amuses me that Gaelic also has a wide range of words and phrases to describe both downpours and the effects of being caught in them.
So I’ll sign off this week with a description of the state I was in after visiting Highland pony Texa this morning.
Bha mi bog fliuch (I was soaking wet!)
Read Angela’s previous Editor’s Diary entries.
Angela Gilchrist I am the former Editor-in-Chief of “The People’s Friend” magazine. My passions include cats, Highland ponies, good books, vegetarian food and long walks in the Scottish countryside. My favourite place to get away from it all is the magical Isle of Skye.
