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April showers

Posted by Smokey Stover on March 18, 2010 at 17:09

In Reply to: April showers posted by Victoria S Dennis on March 15, 2010 at 19:25:

: : : : : I am trying to find out if there are any other months with weather connotations e.g. April showers

: : : : March winds

: : : Dog days of August.

: : [Wheezy, Sneezy and Freezy; Slippy, Drippy and Nippy; Showery, Flowery and Bowery; Wheaty, Heaty and Sweety
: : en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/French_Republican_Calendar - B.]

: February Filldyke; mad March days; Flaming June. (VSD)

Baceceras has given us the names some Englishman invented to mock the names of the months in the French Republican Calendar. It might be interesting to see what it is he was mocking. This calendar was not in use for very long, perhaps a dozen years. The months do not correspond precisely to those we use; each one starts on the 18th, 19th, 20th or 21st day of the corresponding month in the Gregorian calendar.

WINTER
Nivôse (snowy), starts 21, 22, or 23 December
Pluviôse (rainy)
Ventôse (windy)

SPRING
Germinal (germinating), starts late March
Floréal (flowering)
Prairial (pasture)

SUMMER
Messidor (harvest), starts late June
Thermidor (summer heat)
Fructidor (fruit)

AUTUMN
Vendemmaire (grape harvest), late September
Brumaire (foggy)
Frimaire (frost)
........
I've never been able to remember any of these for very long except Thermidor (July-August), Brumaire (October-November) and Frimaire (November-December).

The names of the months have probably always been imbued with symbolic meaning, like the dog-days of August; the sere and wither'd leaf of November, glowing red and gold in the dank mist; and for some the cruelty of April.
SS

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