What are the “dog days” of summer?

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What are the "dog days" of summer?

What are the origins of common summer-related idioms? Explore how the dog days began in the stars, and why one swallow doesn't make a summer.

I t's "hot as Hades," "hot as the dickens," "hotter than blue blazes," "hot enough to fry an egg." Let's "beat the heat." Let's have some "fun in the sun." How many more summer idioms can you think of? We can "catch some rays" or — to use one of the newest iterations — "have a hot girl summer." Folks might try to console each other by claiming "at least it's a dry heat." Or they can complain by calling the hot weather "a scorcher." Or fill in the adjective: It's humid, muggy, steamy, sizzling, sweltering, blistering, or roasting.

What do all of these idioms and phrases have in common? They're about summer.

Let's go back to the early 16th century for the origin of one of the first idioms to describe the season: "the dog days of summer." This colloquial expression refers to the hottest days of the year, but according to the astronomical origins of the phrase, the dog days occur between July 3 and August 11 in the Northern Hemisphere. This period of reliably hot and humid weather coincides with the rising of Sirius, the Dog Star, part of the Canis Major (Greater Dog) constellation. The ancient Greeks believed that the rising of this star caused the summer heat — the name of the star, "Sirius," is derived from the Greek "seirios," meaning "scorching."

Today, we know that this star has no impact on the summertime heat, but the nickname for the time period persists. In the early 16th century, the phrase "dog days" was used in English as a direct translation of the Latin "dies caniculares," but English speakers were the first to use it as an idiom. In addition to the heat, "dog days" sometimes refers to days of ideal happiness. Cue the "Florence & the Machine" track "Dog Days": "The dog days are over / The dog days are done / Can you hear the horses? / 'Cause here they come."