Frozen particles of water collected in clouds fall to the ground in fluffy white flakes, gradually bringing in the black earth, withered foliage and giving people a special peaceful mood. So winter gives way to autumn and white snow covers the earth to the very horizon. But snow is not only white, not only gray. And not only does it lie firmly with a strong crust or cover everything and everyone with loose snowdrifts. It can be different.
Snow is an interesting phenomenon, one way or another described by many people living in suitable climatic conditions. But the aborigines of Australia or Africa, where such a natural phenomenon is a curiosity, may not have any words in their vocabulary that can define the phenomenon. And this is correct, since a person is used to coming up with words for the realities in which he lives or with which he has ever encountered.
Russian realities
People living in Russia, from time immemorial, faced snow-covered meadows, fields and forests. They came up with such definitions of snow as falling snow, melted snow, flakes, groats, powder, blizzard, blizzard, blizzard and many others. If you look into the classical literature, it is easy to find no less interesting definitions. And yet in the area of snow …
Eskimos are ahead of the rest
There is a myth that in the dictionary of the Eskimos, constantly living in the land of "white silence", there are about 500 words for snow. Research on this issue has to some extent confirmed this assumption, although it turned out to be exaggerated.
Eskimos can be called true masters of the word in the designation of winter realities. And they, indeed, are able to distinguish about, if not 500, but only 50 shades of snow. Where the other person sees "white, gray, thawed", the Eskimo has dozens of definitions ready. That there is only a small dictionary of the Eskimo, compiled by Phil James, a famous researcher of the peoples of the north. You can find such interesting descriptions in it.
- Slimtla - crunchy snow underfoot, but only in its upper part, but soft inside. - Kriplyana - snow that looks blue in the early morning. - Puntla - my mouth filled with snow. So they say about a shameless liar. - Dinliltla - small balls of snow sticking to the coat of a husky dog. - Ertla - snow used by Eskimo teenagers for special erotic rituals. - Hahatla - small bags of snow, which are presented as a playful present. - Attla - snow that will fall so that it seems to paint beautiful pictures in the air.
Etc. Interestingly, the more people deal with snow, the more definitions of this phenomenon appear. This is a very simple conclusion. There is no single legalized word or designation for snow. He is always different, always unusual, always capable of surprising a person with the most unexpected forms of snowflakes, the ability to fall to the ground, paint wonderful pictures in the air, and so on.
