Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Ancora su Midsummer

 its middle, by then:-)
The expression "Midsummer time" isn't current in BrE. Dickens was writing a
long time ago. One can speak of "high summer", which might be the hottest
days of August, but our climate is not what Dickens knew. Here in Wiltshire
we have not seen more than a sprnkling of snow for some years, and on most
days since November (wind permitting) I have been able to go shopping
without a outer coat: winter rarely visits us these days..
A British summer (joking apart) stretches from the last days of May or the
first days of June until early or mid September. In general usage, the
seasons are not of equal length and in any case overlap. I think of the
seasons in gardening terms: summer starts when most roses are in bloom.,
autumn when the leaves start to colour.
Alan Jones
--
"Who cares for you!" said Alice, (she had grown to her full size by this
time.) "You're nothing but a pack of cards!"

by then:-)
Lucangel, here is my take on it: the phrase means that it was roughly
(perhaps very roughly) in the middle of summer, and that the weather
had been (and remained so on that Sunday morning) what would be
expected for that locale in the middle of summer.
Isn't summer officially from June 20th (21st?) through September 21st?
I've never heard of Midsummer Day, but it seems odd that it is June
24th. Then again, no one that I know thinks of summer by the official
dates. It is more a function of culture and climate. So in fact, I
probably WOULD think of late June through early July as midsummer.
With the same logic, summer is over by the beginning of September.
Regards, Phil
--

"June 21 or 22 is the summer solstice. 'Midsummer Day' is an illogical
British invention, and is indeed June 24.
This is explained as being because summer in Britain begins on June 21
or 22 and ends on June 27 or 26."
John Woodgate in sci.lang.translation
(Non è divertente?)

 (Non è divertente?)
No, è triiiiste!
Life is bare, gloom and misery everywhere 
Stormy weather, just can't get my poor old self together 
I'm weary all the time...
-- 
Ciao,
Anna

 No, č triiiiste!
Al mio commento:
"From June 21 to June 27? A really brief summer indeed!"
č seguita l'ancor piů esilarante precisazione:
"Summer is sometimes just the day(s) when the rain is warmer"
(Cfr. sci.lang.translation)

 "Summer is sometimes just the day(s) when the rain is warmer"
Comunque quest'anno in East Anglia c'e' stato il marzo piu' soleggiato
degli ultimi ventimila anni, e tutto cio' fa ben sperare per l'estate: dopo
il 2003 il midsummer sara' a fine settembre...
comunque ho chiesto un po' in giro ed anche io ho ottenuto le risposte
piu' variegate: visto che ben pochi sembrano avere un'idea davvero
chiara (meglio: ognuno ha la sua idea) su cosa possa essere il
midsummer, io manterrei il significato 'ufficiale' dato dalle fonti
autorevoli...
ciao
Gennaro
--
Per rispondere eliminare ".HELL" dall'indirizzo.
To reply remove ".HELL" from the end of the address.
------

 autorevoli...
Mi permetto di dissentire: dovendo tradurre Dickens, trovo più 
ragionevole cercar di capire che idea avesse *Dickens*, di *midsummer*. 
Se il contesto ci racconta di un giorno assai caldo e luminoso e ci dice 
che è il dieci di luglio, be', "piena estate" mi sembra appropriato.
Fosse un trattato di meteorologia o climatologia, ovviamente il discorso 
cambierebbe.
-- 
Ciao,
Anna

 che č il dieci di luglio
Prego, il PRIMO di luglio, giusto a ridosso del giorno di San Giovanni o
'Midsummer Day', come dite lě a Milano.

 Anna


 scrisse:

Va bin, comunque Torino, Torino, per piasě!
-- 
Cerea,
Anna