Snowy Weather Words

My brother, Robert, is a meteorologist, so I’ve grown up talking about weather almost my entire life. Today my brother and I were talking about a huge snowstorm that is going to his his area in Tennessee tonight.  This inspired me to make a post about snowy weather words.

Snowstorm – The schools will be closed tomorrow because of the big snowstorm tonight.

Sleet – This is snow that melts in the sky and refreezes before it hits the ground into little ice pellets. 

Freezing Rain – This is snow that melts into water while it’s falling to the ground and then will freeze once it hits the ground because the ground is below the freezing point.  Last night we had freezing rain and now the roads are all slick. 

Hail – This is NOT winter weather. This is similar to sleet, but it happens in the summer from Thunderstorms.  We had golf ball sized hail and it dented the hood of my car.

Snow flurries – This is very light snow.  My children were disappointed that we only had snow flurries today and they couldn’t build a snowman.

Wind chill factor – This is when the wind makes it feel colder than it actually is.   Wow, it sure feels cold out here.  I’m sure it’s due to the wind chill factor.

Frost – ice crystals.  I woke up in the morning and there was frost all over the grass. 

Blizzard – a huge snowstorm with lots of wind. 

A blanket of snow – I woke up in the morning, looked out my window and I saw a huge blanket of snow. 

Route, Root or Rout

Someone asked me on my facebook account what the difference was between route, root and rout.  I thought I’d answer that question here.

Route – A route is a road or a highway. One day I’d like to travel on Route 66. Also, route could be a particular way one travels.  The mailman takes the same route every day.

Root – Root means to cheer someone on.  The cheerleaders rooted for the football players.
Root is also the bottom part of a plant that is under the ground.  The root of the plant soaks up the water.
Root beer is a type of soft drink that happens to be my favorite drink.  Even though ‘beer’ is in the word, it is not alcoholic.

Rout – Rout means a riot, huge defeat or a fight after a big defeat.

There are also a few other less used definitions for these words, but these are the most used, in my opinion.

American Wedding Traditions

Some of these traditions may occur in your country too.  Read and find out how similar our cultures are.

When a couple gets married the bride needs to wear for good luck:
something old,
something new,
something borrowed,
something blue.

On the day of the wedding, it is bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding ceremony.

As the bride walks down the aisle to her groom, her face is covered by a veil. It is then lifted (usually by her father).  This symbolizes her freedom from her parents and the beginning of her new life.

After the wedding ceremony, as the couple leaves the church or after the reception as the couple leaves,  the guests toss rice at them.  It is a way to wish them well. However, it was found that then birds would eat the rice and it was not good for them to eat the rice. So now, the guests usually blow bubbles at the couple to signify well wishes.

After the wedding, during the reception, all of the single women gather around the bride.  Then, she throws the wedding bouquet and someone catches it.  It is said that whoever catches it will be the next to be married.  I caught one when I was 19 years old, but I didn’t get married until many years later.  So,  I’m thinking this isn’t true.

Good Luck!

These are symbols of luck in the United States.  Post a comment about things that bring luck in your country.

Four leaf clover – If you find a 4 leaf clover in a clover patch, then you will have very good luck.  Usually they are only 3 leaf clovers. The 4 leaves represent fame, wealth, love and health! 

Rabbit’s foot  – To carry a rabbit’s foot is good luck. I had one as a child, I sure do hope it was fake, because to me carrying a foot around is kind of gross.  

Break a leg –  This is something you say to an actor/actress right before they perform.  It’s believed if you say this, then the opposite will occur – good luck.  If you say ‘good luck’ to an actor before a performance, then something bad will happen to them. 

Crossing your fingers – Many believe that if you cross your fingers it will bring you good luck. Also, sometimes people cross their fingers if they are lying. It’s almost as if it is okay to lie if you cross your fingers.

Pinch, poke, you owe me a Coke!

Pinch, poke, you owe me a coke. 

Have you ever heard that phrase?  It’s a silly thing some kids say (and some adults too), when two people say the exact same thing at the same time.

For example:

Person A and person B both say at the same time: “Glee is my favorite TV show.”

Then, Person A (or B) will quickly say, “Pinch, poke, you owe me a coke.” 

Sometimes with kids there might be a little pinching or poking, but nothing serious.  And rarely does anyone ever really get a free coke. 🙂

Getting up on the wrong side of the bed

This is an expression you might say to someone in the morning if that person is grumpy or in a bad mood.  However, they might not appreciate your comment if they are in an exceptionally bad mood, so beware!

Here’s a sample short dialog: 

Cathy – I hate today.  I spilled coffee all over my shoes and I just want to go home.

Penny – Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed? 

Cathy – Yeah, that about sums it up.

Trick or Treat!

“Trick or Treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat.”  This is a little rhyme that some kids say when they knock on someone’s door to get candy on October 31st – Halloween.  Most kids simply say, “Trick or Treat” though.  Luckily the people at the houses usually just hand out treats and usually do not play any tricks.

Last year, I took my kids out trick or treating for almost 3 hours.  We walked all over our neighborhood, knocking on doors where the lights were on.   If the lights are not on at the house,  then we didn’t go to them because this is a sign that the people at the house are not giving away candy.

Lots of churches and communities also have  Halloween festivals either held on October 30th or October 31st. There are cake wheels, where you can place you money on a number and then the wheel is spun.  If the wheel lands on your number, then you win a home made cake.  There are also costume contests and lots of other games to play.

Carving a Jack o’ lantern is one of my favorite activities.   Since I live in a warm climate, we carve them on October 30th or 31st because they get rotten fast!  Up North, when we lived in Canada,  we carved them much earlier and kept them lit at night for a few weeks.

This year my youngest son will dress up as a tiger, my oldest son will be Luke Skywalker from Star Wars.  My daughter will dress up as a black cat.  They each decided what they wanted to be and of course they are all very excited!

At a Pizza Parlor

Here are some expressions you can use or you may hear when ordering pizza at a restaurant.

“I’d like a slice of pizza.” – A slice means a single piece of pizza.

“Can I have extra cheese on my pizza?”

“I’d like a meat-lovers pizza.” – A meat-lovers pizza usually has all of the kinds of meat that the restaurant serves. Usually pepperoni, sausage, Canadian bacon and hamburger.

“Do you have any specials today?” – A special is a meal that is cheaper than normal. The pizza parlor I go to has a lunch special where you get 2 slices of pizza and a soft drink for $6.

“What toppings would you like on your pizza?” – This is what the waitress might ask you in order to find out what you’d like on top of your pizza.

“Thin crust, hand tossed or pan?” – Lots of restaurants have different types of crusts. Pan can sometimes be called thick crust.

Here’s a typical dialog. You will be the customer and say what you’d like to order:

Waitress: May I take your order?

Customer:

Waitress: What kind of crust would you like? We have thin or thick crusts.

Customer:

Waitress: And which toppings would you like?

Customer:

Waitress: Is there anything else you’d like? Something to drink?

Customer:

Waitress: Great, it will be about 10 minutes. I’ll bring your drink right over.

Autumn Vocabulary

I’m so anxious for Autumn to come that I am writing a post about some Autumn vocabulary words you can use.

Fall – It’s another word for Autumn and is probably used more often than Autumn (at least where I live). It symbolizes the leaves falling from the trees.

harvest – This is when people gather their fruits and vegetables that they grew on their farm or in their garden. (Please note, our vegetable garden only made 2 pieces of corn. That was it. So sad.)

rake – This is a verb that means to gather leaves. This is usually done with a rake (a noun). This is a long gardening tool with metal or plastic strips that gather leaves.

cornucopia – This is a type of horn that is filled with fruits and vegetables. (see picture.)

crisp – This is a word used to describe very cool weather.

There are lots of other Autumn words – leave a comment if you can think of other good ones. Also, leave me a comment about anything else you’d like to say.

Make-up Vocabulary

Have you ever been curious about different words for various make-up that women (or men) put on their faces? Here are a few of the main types of make-up.

base or foundation – This is the liquid make-up that is applied to the skin on your face.

cover up– This is similar to foundation, but it only hides a blemish.

blush – This is the reddish color that is put on your cheek bones.

lipstick – This is what you put on your lips.

lip gloss – This is like lip stick but is shinier and appears almost wet.

eyeliner – This is usually black or brown and it outlines the eye.

eyeshadow – This make-up is applied on the eyelids and above the eyes.

mascara – This is applied to the eyelashes to make them appear darker.

eyebrow pencil – This is used to fill in your eyebrows, if you want them to appear darker.