Editor's Corner

I recently saw an advertisement for an air conditioning company that said Beat the dog days of summer, which made me wonder how the phrase dog days originated.

Merriam-Webster defines dog days as:

1. the period between early July and early September when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere

2. a period of stagnation or inactivity

Merriam-Webster also gives this explanation about the origin of this phrase:

The brightest star in the sky is Sirius, also known as the Dog Star. Sirius was given this name by the ancients because it was considered the hound of the hunter Orion, whose constellation was nearby. The Dog Star was regarded by the ancient Greeks as the bringer of scorching heat, because its early-morning rising coincided with the hottest summer days of July and August. The Greek writer Plutarch called this time hmerai kynades, literally, dog daysthe days of the Dog Starand by way of Latin this phrase was translated into English as dog days.

This is how my dog feels about summer:

Jackie Solano | Technical Editor | Symitar

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