Monday's Word - Hyetal

There is a strange belief with some people that it always rains in my native Wales. Not true - and even if it were I would reply that it's what keeps Wales Green. In fact I remember summers as long and hot and sunny as one could wish for. However, be that as it may, I came across this in Michael Quinion's *'World Wide Words' which I thought rather interesting:

"You may wish to save this adjective for a rainy day, when you can enliven the inevitable discussion about the weather by dropping itinto the conversation. Do not, however, expect it to be understood,even though you're merely referring to rain...

'Hyetal' comes from Greek "huetos", rain, and is related to Greek"hyei", it is raining. It means "relating to rain". A hyetal chart is a rain chart; an isohyetal is a line on a map connecting placesof equal rainfall; a hyetograph is a self-registering rain gauge;and hyetology is the study of the geographical variation and annual
distribution of rainfall. Meteorologists, the main users of theword and its compounds, have extended the meaning to include all forms of precipitation."

Well, it could come in useful for scrabble contests!

*World Wide Words is copyright (c) Michael Quinion 2010. All rights reserved. The Words Web site is at http://www.worldwidewords.org/

By the way, I'm guest blogging at Anna K Lanier's Blog today.  If you'd like to drop by and leave me a comment it'll stop me feeling too lonely!

Monday's Word - Aristology

Nothing to do with the aristocrocy, as you might possibly think - this apparently refers to 'the art or science of dining.

The following is taken from a recent feature in 'World Wide Words' by Michael Quinion:

"According to the lexicons, the Greek for dinner is Ariston, The classical Greek word strictly means breakfast or lunch rather than dinner, though we should allow much latitude in translating the prandial habits of one culture into another, not least because the timing of the meal called dinner in England has varied greatly
down the centuries."

This is interesting, because as a Brit I can testify to the variation of 'dinner' in Britain as a whole. To me, having spent most of my life in Wales, dinner is the evening meal, but for many people in England, it is the midday meal.

Further on in the article, Michael Quinion states:

"The word has never become more than a marginal addition to the language, a source of obscure scholarly humour rather than a term of utility. It's best known from books by Rex Stout, in which his corpulent protagonist, Nero Wolfe, has a couple of encounters with a group of gourmets, the Ten for Aristology."

I have to admit to never having come across this word before - perhaps I can find a way of slipping it into the my writing next time the hero and heroine are enjoying a romantic meal together...


*Thanks to Michael Quinion of WORLD WIDE WORDS. World Wide Words is copyright (c) Michael Quinion 2009. All rights reserved. The Words Web site is at http://www.worldwidewords.org