They had a (is it "a" or "an"?) haboob in Phoenix yesterday. I hadn't heard that word used before. Apparently it's an Arab word, since they have so many deserts, meaning "massive dust storm." Here is a picture of it: Link Here's a YouTube video of it: Link

I see it's from a root HBB (Arabic habba 'to blow'). I had not heard of it before either. I do like weather words: like mistral or sirocco.

If that's what they really had, I suspect the governor of Arizona will try to have it deported.

We had Chinook winds in Oregon/Washington, and So Cal has its Santa Ana (hot desert) winds. Around here the noteworthy winds are called tornadoes.

I like weather words, too. There are so many.

There are so many.

Because folks like discussing the weather.

There's a daft video here of meteorologists trying to get to grips with the word.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4...-anchors-saying-boob

quote:

Because folks like discussing the weather.

I've noticed that in cities other than Chicago. We just seem to put up with our weather. Very recently one day it was 96 here, and the very next day it was 50. Some would go crazy with that. In Chicago, we just say, "C'est la vie."

quote:

In Chicago, we just say, "C'est la vie."

Brain-freeze.

I see Phoenix just had another haboob. Makes me wish I weren't going there next week!

People in Phoenix may want to look into the purchase of something my nephew found in his new backpack -- space for a hydration receptacle. I think it was once called a canteen or just a water bottle.

Is "Haboob" anything like "hey Rube?" Both kick up a lot of dust. Or is it the way a guy from down South greets a breast?

Language Log has an article mentioning some locals' dislike of this term, as mentioned in an article in the NYT.

I particularly liked the first comment to the LL article:

quote:

On the plus side, Ms. Robinson [one of those mentioned in the NYT article] exhibits more colorful, vividly written linguistic xenophobia than your average bigot. Actually, I guess that's not much of a plus.

Well, for the record, I just got back from Phoenix tonight (been there since Sunday), and the locals I talked with used the term haboob and didn't feel insulted. I had wanted to experience one! Sometimes I think the media whips us up about nothing (I mean the Arizona Republic and not Language Log, which you know I love!).

When I first heard the word, it reminded me of a guy I dated in college, Habeeb. I can feel a limerick coming on!

I thought his name was Shufitz.

There once was a fella in college,
Whom I'd very much like to acknowledge.
While sometimes a dweeb,
His name was Habeeb,
We'd boat and we'd row and we'd loll the edge.

Oh, my. Not one of my best! I always liked his name, and now I like the word haboob.