Tidbits # 3
I've decided to start making a habit sharing new tidbits that I learned from reading David Feldman's Who Put the Butter in Butterfly? So far, I've made two posts. One was about Dandelions and the most recent post was about Jeeps and a buck.
So now, this is the third post. I shall call this Tidbits #3
Why is the Middle of Summer Called the Dog Days?
No, dog days is not an invention of the greeting card industry to create a phony holiday for your canine pets. Nor is it an ironic reference to the fact that midsummer isn't exactly Bowser's favorite time of year.
Dog days goes back to the Romans, who believed that in the hottest part of the summer, Sirius (the "dog star" and the brighest star in its constelation) lent its own heat to the heat of the sun (sirius means "scorching" in Greek). The Roman dog days, which they called caniculares dies ("days of the dog"), lasted from approximately July 3 to August 11, when Sirius is ascending. Over time, dog days has come to mean any expected long streak of heat.
**now the name Sirius and his transformation in a black dog in Harry Potter makes sense :)
** Tomorrow, it will be August 11th.
Why is an Old Person Said to Be Long in the Tooth?
The first recorded use of long in the tooth was in J.C. Snaith's Love Lane (1919): "One of the youngest R.A.s (rear admirals) on record, but a bit long in the tooth for the Army."
The meaning is the same today, but the words don't seem to apply to humans. The answer is that long in the tooth originally referred only to horses. As horses age, their gums recede. Their teeth don't actually get longer, but they look longer. The older the horse, the longer its teeth look.
** Hey Jase, do your teeth look longer now? Heh eh.
So now, this is the third post. I shall call this Tidbits #3
Why is the Middle of Summer Called the Dog Days?
No, dog days is not an invention of the greeting card industry to create a phony holiday for your canine pets. Nor is it an ironic reference to the fact that midsummer isn't exactly Bowser's favorite time of year.
Dog days goes back to the Romans, who believed that in the hottest part of the summer, Sirius (the "dog star" and the brighest star in its constelation) lent its own heat to the heat of the sun (sirius means "scorching" in Greek). The Roman dog days, which they called caniculares dies ("days of the dog"), lasted from approximately July 3 to August 11, when Sirius is ascending. Over time, dog days has come to mean any expected long streak of heat.
**now the name Sirius and his transformation in a black dog in Harry Potter makes sense :)
** Tomorrow, it will be August 11th.
Why is an Old Person Said to Be Long in the Tooth?
The first recorded use of long in the tooth was in J.C. Snaith's Love Lane (1919): "One of the youngest R.A.s (rear admirals) on record, but a bit long in the tooth for the Army."
The meaning is the same today, but the words don't seem to apply to humans. The answer is that long in the tooth originally referred only to horses. As horses age, their gums recede. Their teeth don't actually get longer, but they look longer. The older the horse, the longer its teeth look.
** Hey Jase, do your teeth look longer now? Heh eh.
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neat. I thought dog days meant "hot days" because usually dogs likes to lay out in the sun. :)
Posted by
Laural |
8:30 PM