Wintry Mix: Wintry Words

The Arctic Circle, which contains the North Pole, is the northernmost part of the planet, and (along with the South Pole) is the most consistently cold region, much like tropical areas are the hottest. So if you hear your local meteorologist saying, “Arctic temperatures are on the way,” you’d better wear six layers of clothes, whippersnappers.

The original meaning of blizzard, in the early 1800s, referred to a sharp blow of some kind, like a powerful punch from a skilled boxer. That violent sense fits with the winter-related meaning. By the mid-1800s, the word applied to snowstorms that combined heavy snow and powerful winds, leaving everyone in the blizzard’s path blind and buried. A much lighter bout of snowfall is called a flurry.

This word applies to many situations that are not, as they say, a picnic in the park. A government described as a brutal regime is violent and repressive. In mixed martial arts, a brutal fight leaves one fighter—or both—beaten to a pulp. When it comes to weather, brutalism involves weather extremes. You could describe a 100-degree day as brutal, but it’s more common to describe severe winter weather this way: rapidly falling snow, icy streets, and gusting winds are all brutal.

Anything colder than forty degrees Fahrenheit can easily be considered chilly, depending on the thickness of your coat or the machoness of your temperament. A related term is wind chill: the temperature it actually feels like when you factor in the chilling effect of the wind. This is another cold word that’s often applied to people and situations. If two friends have had a falling out, you could say their relationship is chilly.

This word usually applies to foods that are thin and dry and crack easily: think of the sharp crunch when you break or bite into a cracker. But we sometimes describe bitterly cold days as crisp too: especially a day with a high wind chill. On days with 30 or 40 mile per hour winds, just walking to the corner can feel like you’re getting stabbed with icicles repeatedly, and no coat or suit of armor can keep you warm. Crisp weather is also called brisk.

Glacial has a few meanings related to glaciers, which are humongous masses of ice and snow much larger than icebergs. Anything that moves slowly is going at a glacial pace. An older person using a walker is probably moving glacially, though it would be rude to say so. Legal and legislative processes tend to move at a glacial pace too. The other meaning comes from the temperature of glaciers: glacial temperatures are extremely cold.

This word sounds like the kind of sudden squawk an alarmed bird might make, but there’s no feathers to be found: a squall is really a powerful blast of wind. In the winter, squalls—which are similar to gusts, but gustier—can turn a cold day into a frigid, polar, glacial day. Squalls can even turn a snowstorm into a blizzard. The origin of this term isn’t known for sure, but an older sense involved a piercing scream.