"TudorHgh" wrote in message
...
Glad someone other than me has raised this point, which is one of
my pet
hates.
The term that "the grown-ups" used in my childhood was "watery
sunshine", or "a milky sky", and I have used it ever since when talking
non-technically. It would be acceptable for presenters to use. As you
say,
Jack, it is most definitely not haze, which reduces visibility and gives a
brownish-yellow tinge to everything. The persistent misuse of the term
over
the last 10 years or so now means that many members of the public have
lost the
distinction as well, or are confused. This probably wouldn't have
happened if
we still had fully-fledged meteorologists doing the presentation, but many
of
the present lot, especially the female ones, have little feeling for the
weather. I feel it's time to gently educate the public rather than pander
to
their (often wrongly)-assumed ignorance.

If I may play devil's advocate for a moment. The word 'hazy' does not
appear in the Met Office's "Observer's Handbook", nor is there an entry
in the "Meteorological Glossary" or the American Meteorological
Society's "Glossary of Meteorology". It does, however, appear in all
English dictionaries. Dislike the expression 'hazy sunshine' - as I do -
by all means, but don't jump on a high horse and claim it's incorrect
usage when it manifestly is not. To suggest that you should not use
'hazy' as an adjective because 'haze' is not involved, and then say
that you'd much prefer 'watery' or 'milky' is actually quite funny.

Philip Eden