WotD: slush

[muckefuck]

1. der Schneematsch, der Schneepflutsch (Alem.)
2. de natte sneeuw
3. la nieve medio derritada, el aquanieve
4. la neu mig fosa, l'aiguaneu
5. la névasse (Can.), la tiaffe (CH)
6. y slwtsh, yr eira tawdd
7. an bogoighear
8. błoto pośniegowe
9. 녹기 시작한 눈
10. 雪泥 xǔení
11. 雪泥 せつでい

Notes: As you might expect, areas outside the snowbelt tend not to have a single-word expression for this. Hex Frenchies, for instance, would probably say neige demi-fondue like their Iberian neighbours. Aguanieve and aiguaneu both translate as "watersnow" and technically refer to sleet or graupel, but as the former is used for "slush" by some speakers, I assume its Catalan equivalent could be, too. Bogoighear is literally "softice". 雪泥 combines the character for "snow" with the character for "mud", and the Polish expression is literally "snowy mud".

We had that most hideous combination of a slight warm-up followed immediately by fresh snowfall and a freeze. The walks were free of snow when I went in yesterday, but the banks on either side had trapped large puddles of dirty water everywhere. By evening, these had become semi-concealed expanses of slush; I was a half-hour late getting home, leading me to abandon my plan of watching Stellet Licht in the Old Man's absence.

I cursed Scooter for running the snowblower at 11 p.m. even while I recognised the wisdom of getting the sidewalks cleared before they set up. Almost none of our neighbours had the same foresight, meaning that I had to penguin-waddle most of the way--perhaps unnecessarily, since the ice was so rough with tread prints and other indentations that it actually gave good purchase. Normally, I would look forward to admiring the snowscape on days like this, but I've had to keep my eyes on the pavement ahead to avoid ending up on my ass.

Comments

[ursine1.livejournal.com]

I think few people can properly discern between snow grains, graupel, ice pellets, soft hail, sleet…

Chuck