Although there doesn’t seem to be a consensus on the absolute number of words Eskimos have for snow (anything between 4 and 100), I’m thinking that it will be more than the British have for rain. Given the extent to which “rain” features in national life, this just seems wrong.
For instance, Lou and I were walking along Bloomsbury Way this morning with umbrellas up but still getting damp (not wet, soaked or drenched) because the ‘water in the air’ didn’t really qualify as “rain” – it was of the ‘swirling-around-atomised-get-a-grip-pointless’ variety.
But, like the sticky-up thing atop a Frenchman’s beret, there wasn’t a word to describe it, or our situation. Surely in a country as ‘rainy’ as ours there’s got to be more than just “downpour”, “shower” or “drizzle”? Please let me know if there is. And if there isn’t, perhaps it’s time we created some rain words!
I mean, the Germans have “pladdern” (very strong rain, fairly big drops), “prasseln” (also strong rain, but with smaller drops), “gießen” (just boring old strong rain), “pieseln” (a light rain that’s barely there - also means “to pee”), and “nieseln” (similar to “pieseln”, but with very small drops. Apparently.
Maybe the new rain words could be onomatopoetic. In Ukranian/Russian, “kapaty” means light rain, and “nakrapaty” even lighter rain; “barabanit’ is the sound of rain battering against window panes or the roof. In China they use “didadida”. In Welsh, “pitran patran” is light rain. “Tittuf” is Hebrew for dripping rain. Again, apparently.
Anyone have any suggestions for words for ‘rain situations’? If nothing else, it’ll give you something to do on a, er, rainy day!
