Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Mild.

Why is the weather always mild, and what does it mean? Examples include, but are not limited to, Brr.... it's a bit mild out today, or Cor, it's mild. (*loosens tie*).

Do people just apply the term to whatever they want, or is it a catch all?

5 comments:

Kourosism said...

See, I would agree with you about not agreeing with you on the "Brr..." one, if I hasn't actually heard it used in that context this week.

Which is why I wasn't entirely sure I "got it"

Sam said...

I'd normally agree with Stu's defn ("warmer than would normally be expected for the particular hour of the day of the year") but I have also heard "brr, it's mild" once before.

My conclusion is that either it's local slang inversion (which happens when a colloquialism is either misunderstood or deliberately inverted - witness kids using 'bad', 'wicked' or 'sick' for good things) or someone who just doesn't know what it means.

"Local slang inversion" is something I've just invented, btw.

Phil said...

Yeah, I'm with Stu, when it's warmer than you would expect, but yes, it is a very ambiguous term indeed! :]

Anonymous said...

I think it's mild if it's warmer than you would expect in winter, or if it's summer, and there's an unexpected cool spell, something to do with the sea maybe.
That's how it seems to get used around here anyway, it's always confused me too :-)

NigelH said...

I have high blood pressure, so when it's mild, it's too hot for me. Is this relevant?