Whats wrong with "mini tornadoes" ?,I think 99% of those so described fit
nicely into that category.
Piddling little typhoons which blow a few tiles off and upset a couple of
caravans ,(unless they are yours of course ).
Q And why I am at it,why are showers with thunder and lightning always
described as "thunderstorms" ?,
whats wrong with thundershowers ,yeah I know sometimes its only lightning
seen ,
Perhaps the English language is not descriptive enough, still it winkles out
the more pedantic among us .........

RonB

"Ron Button" schreef in bericht
...
Perhaps the English language is not descriptive enough, still it winkles
out the more pedantic among us .........

Hi, Ron

Maybe we Dutch are in a in favour as we have, besides the general English
description, also Dutch terminology. A "tornado" in Dutch is a real heavy
one (F4 or more) -- and mainly used for the American disasters.

The Dutch translation is "wervel-storm". (Whirling-storm literally). As the
word "storm" is added you can give a kind of gradation by calling
light-tornado's "wervel-winds".
A synonym is "wind-hoos" -- dry brother of the "water-hoos". (water-spout).


Wijke

On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 11:45:56 +0200, "Wijke Ruiter"
wrote:

"Ron Button" schreef in bericht
...
Perhaps the English language is not descriptive enough, still it winkles
out the more pedantic among us .........

Hi, Ron

Maybe we Dutch are in a in favour as we have, besides the general English
description, also Dutch terminology. A "tornado" in Dutch is a real heavy
one (F4 or more) -- and mainly used for the American disasters.

The Dutch translation is "wervel-storm". (Whirling-storm literally).

What a poetic description - wervel wind (is it pronounced "vair-ful vint" as it
would be in High German?)

As the
word "storm" is added you can give a kind of gradation by calling
light-tornado's "wervel-winds".
A synonym is "wind-hoos" -- dry brother of the "water-hoos". (water-spout).

Does "hoos" mean trousers or hose (High German "Hosen as in "Lederhosen"?).

I quite like the wind-trouser or water-trouser descriptions - lends itself to
some schoolboy humour, at least for those with schoolboy minds (like me).

JPG





Wijke

"Ron Button" wrote in message
...
Whats wrong with "mini tornadoes" ?,I think 99% of those so described fit
nicely into that category.
Piddling little typhoons which blow a few tiles off and upset a couple of
caravans ,(unless they are yours of course ).
Q And why I am at it,why are showers with thunder and lightning always
described as "thunderstorms" ?,
whats wrong with thundershowers ,yeah I know sometimes its only lightning
seen ,
Perhaps the English language is not descriptive enough, still it winkles
out
the more pedantic among us .........

RonB



Hehehe Ron
One way to start a arguement on here :P