Here Come the Dog Days! 英会話　英語　アミック

We’re starting to head into the hottest part of summer— the part that, in English, we call the dog days of summer. We usually use the expression dog days to talk about the hottest, most humid, and most unpleasant days of the year.

But did you know that this expression has very little to do with dogs at all?

The brightest star in the night sky, which scientists usually call a Canis Majoris, or sometimes, Sirius, also has another name: for thousands of years, it has been known as the Dog Star. This star can’t be seen year-round, though. It only returns to the sky in early or mid-July, and becomes more and more difficult to see in late summer. Thousands of years ago, before they had the science to understand why this happens, people saw that the Dog Star always returned for the hottest part of the summer, and so they began to call those days, from mid-July to late August, the “dog days”. The dog days were believed to be a time of bad weather, bad luck, and sickness.

Today, we still use the expression the dog days of summer to talk about the hottest days of the year, but with air conditioning, refrigerators and swimming pools, it’s much easier for us to stay safe and not overheat during the height of summer. So keep cool, drink lots of water, and enjoy the dog days!

–Veronica