Sunny Intervals
April 16, 2008
I was reading some news on the BBC website, and I noticed in the weather section that Brits apparently have a different name for what we commonly refer to as “partly cloudy.” They call it “sunny intervals.” I can’t help but notice how much more positive this sounds.
Is this the result of a fundamental disparity between European and American perspectives, or just another example of jocular British quirkiness? You discuss.
First, good on you for varying your news sources.
That is a great observation…it definitely sounds more optimistic. I like to see how people in different parts of the world view things.
In Australia, you can buy maps of the world where the Northern hemisphere is at the bottom of the page (putting Australia at the top). I think that’s a clever reminder that North is arbitrary…maybe South is really “up” and we travel the opposite direction around the sun.
Maps are really interesting because most countries publish maps with their country in the center–making it appear bigger and more important.
I try to collect old maps. You never know when you’ll need to find where something used to be when something else is there then, whenever then may be.