‘Muggy’ means you might sound great at karaoke
AFTER a week in which the jet stream simply refused to sit still – a restlessness that left some soaked, others sweltering, and most of us both – much of the country is expected to feel a similarly precise, if frustrating set of conditions this weekend.
According to forecasts, the skies will be gunmetal grey; the temperatures high and humidity levels, which haven’t been of great concern so far this summer, suddenly soaring. Great.
We all know those types of days: the sort when sweat patches appear within minutes of starting any form of exercise, when moisture levels create Jheri curls which sprout on even the unlikeliest of heads, and when supermarket freezer aisles are sought like El Dorado. But what do we call it?
To most, those conditions are “muggy” – an undeniably odd weather descriptor that seems pre-packaged to befuddle non-native speakers.
No, we can tell them, its origins have nothing to do with porcelain cups or street robberies. Nor does it have anything to do with taking the mick, or somebody’s “ugly mug”. It’s thought “muggy” developed from an old verb for a certain kind of low drizzle.
In 14th century Arthurian legend Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, it is written that “mist mugged on the moor”. Even more appropriate, however, might be that verb’s distant relative. With the same root, “meug”, meaning slippery of slimy, it’s thought muggy is a etymological cousin of “mucus”. (If you don’t like “muggy”, you can plump for “clammy” – from the Old English for sticky mud or clay).
Other consequences of a humid weekend? Insects will flourish, which is good in the long term but annoying in the short; smells will come to life, be that a sewer or a wet dog; and singers won’t sound better. Moisture-full air improves the elasticity of vocal chords. It may be a stuffy one, but perhaps it’s time to dust off the karaoke machine?