Word of the day: nippy

After an Indian summer – a period of warm weather in autumn – that seemed

to last for ever, London has suddenly turned really cold. Over the last few
days, temperatures have plummeted and at night it’s regularly dropping below
zero out there. It’s so cold that there’s a dusting (a thin layer) of frost on the
garden grass when I come down in the morning to make coffee. When I pop
out to get the milk from my front doorstep, it’s so cold I can see my breath and
I have to rub my hands together to keep them warm. When my kids are
getting ready to go to school, I remind them: Wrap up warm or you’ll freeze to
death out there. It’s proper hat and scarf weather!

And, of course, like lots of English people, I live in quite an old house. Our
place dates back to the middle of the 19th century, so is over 150 years old.
This gives the house character, but it also means that it’s both difficult and
expensive to heat properly. Gas prices have gone through the roof recently –
they’ve gone up a lot; and the whole place is quite draughty (/ˈdrɑːfti/) – it’s a
bit uncomfortable because of all the cold wind that blows into it. Still, at least
we’ve got a lovely open fire in the front room, which warms the place up a bit
and makes it nice and cosy.
Anyway, all of this got me thinking about the many different ways we talk
about cold weather in English. When we pass neighbours in the street or
when we walk off the street into a shop, one of the most common things we
say at times like this is Cor! It’s a bit nippy out there, isn’t it! We don’t really
expect much of a reply to this – perhaps an I know! or a Tell me about it! but
that’s about it.

Other common things you might hear, all of which basically mean the same
thing, are:

It’s freezing out there.

It’s a bit parky out there today. 

It’s bitter out today, isn’t it!

Wrap up! It’s raw out there today! 

It’s Baltic out there! (Presumably because the Baltic countries – Estonia,

Latvia and Lithuania – are believed to be very cold!)

and perhaps my favourite, which requires some explaining:

It’s brass monkeys out there!

Brass is a kind of metal, and apparently during the 19th century, it was
common for tourists returning from the Far East to bring as a souvenir three
brass monkeys – representing the idea of hearing no evil, seeing no
evil, and speaking no evil! The phrase above is a shortened version of the
rather rude It’s cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, which you
still sometimes hear in its entirety, although I’ve also heard more polite
versions such as cold enough to freeze the nose / tail off . . . as well! You’re
safe just saying BRASS MONKEYS instead of FREEZING though and none
of the dictionary definitions suggest it’s in any way offensive!

Right. I’m off to make a nice cup of tea and warm up a bit!

Hugh Dellar © 2018