The Dog Days of Summer
It is really hot these days. In Korean, there are names for the hottest days of the year. Today is Chobok, the first of the hottest days. The other days are Jungbok (July 27th) and Malbok (August 16th). The ending phoneme, bok, comes from a Chinese character that looks like a dog lying on its stomach.
I always thought that we called the hottest days in English the dog days of summer because dogs just lie around when it is hot. It is too hot for dogs to run around and play, so they just lie in a cool spot. As it turns out, that is not where the phrase comes from.
The phrase ‘dog days of summer’ dates back to the ancient Romans. The hottest days of the summer were associated with Sirius. Sirius is brightest star in the constellation Canis Major. Canis means dog. Sirius appeared to rise before the sun during late July and early August back then and there was a belief that the bright star sent extra heat to Earth. Dog days was translated to English about 500 years ago and refers to the hottest and most humid days of the year.
How do you beat the heat (stay cool on hot days)?
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Reference:
https://thesoulofseoul.net/2017/06/19/hottest-days-summer-korea/
https://welcometoyeonsu.tistory.com/507
https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/when-are-the-dog-days-of-summer
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/150710-dog-days-summer-sirius-star-astronomy-weather-language