Lazy, Hazy Days: The Sweltering Words of Summer

Literally, anything nuclear refers to the nucleus of an atom. Nuclear energy comes from splitting the atom, and that's why you see references to nuclear weapons, nuclear power plants, and nuclear scientists. However, sometimes this term is used a bit more loosely. When an argument gets out of hand, it goes nuclear, and when the temperatures rise to preposterous degrees, you can say the weather has also reached nuclear levels.

Since the 1600s, sweltering has been a word for excessive heat. The Oxford English Dictionary describes it as, "Oppressive or overpowering with great heat; causing or accompanied by profuse sweating or suffocation through extreme heat." That's right: sweltering heat is so bad you might not even be able to breathe, literally. Sweltering isn't swell.

This refers to countries around the Earth's equator: the tropics. These areas, far from the chilly North and South poles, have the opposite weather: hot and steamy. This is why tropical nations such as Jamaica and the Bahamas are popular vacation spots, and it's also why tropical is a synonym for hot weather.

One of the most annoying summer phrases—along with "Hot enough for ya?"—is "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." When humidity is high, the weather is humid. High humidity means there's a lot of moisture in the air, and when humidity reaches 100%, Mother Nature makes it rain.

Muggy has been around since at least the 1700s. Another word used for humid or muggy weather is sticky, in reference to the sweat-soaked shirts and other garments that can make summer so uncomfortable. It's one thing to be sweaty after playing basketball or ripping phone books. It's another thing to be drenched in sweat just standing there, because of monumental mugginess.

This word usually refers to tyrannical governments that crush their people's spirits. Anything oppressive pushes down from above, which may explain why people often describe the heat as oppressive when the sun feels like the enemy, because it's just so flippin' hot. If the heat is oppressive, it's wearing down your body and spirit. Seek an air conditioner immediately.