Heat Wave

Idiom: Heat Wave

Context #1 – Walking in LA during a heat wave

The temperature is 105 plus degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius), and it feels like you just stepped into a huge oven. It's the hottest it's been in recent memory. You just passed a homeless guy who was trying to fry an egg on the sidewalk. There is air conditioning in just about every place you go, except your apartment because you don’t have an air conditioner. You are desperately looking for a place to cool off until the sun goes down. Just staying outside for an extended period of time could be bad for your health. It is difficult to move and EVERYONE is cranky because of the hot weather. You are experiencing a HEAT WAVE....

Context #2 – Two roommates in an apartment without air conditioning during a heat wave

Jennie:  I cannot even believe how hot it is right now. It’s like I’m in hell and there is no end in sight.

Katie: I know! I can’t even breathe. I feel like I’m in an oven. I had no idea there could be a heat wave like this in California.

Jennie: We really should have rented an apartment with air conditioning. I just didn’t think we would need it.

Katie: Well, we are going to melt if we stay in this apartment any longer. Why don’t we go see a movie? It’s always nice and cool in the movie theater.

Jennie: That sounds like a plan. Maybe it will cool off later after the movie finishes.

Katie: I doubt it! Mrs. Cline our neighbor says that she cannot remember a heat wave like this and she has been living in California her whole life!

 Meaning: “Heat wave” is an idiom that is specifically used to talk about a period of time that is much hotter than usual. In context #1, it describes a person experiencing a heat wave while walking outside. In context #2, the roommates are in their apartment, but they don’t have air conditioning, so they are trying to find a way to stay cool.  @LSILA @LSINE @LSIOC @LSIS

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To scorch & to roast

Idiom: to scorch & to roast; used as a verb
 

Example:

Carla: I just saw the news, and  it's going to be 97 today! I don't want to leave our air conditioned house.

Ken: I know! I went outside to take out the trash, and the sun was scorching!      

Carla: I'm not going to the movie.

Ken:  Fine by me; let's see if we can find something to watch on TV.

Meaning: Literally, "scorch" means to burn the exterior of something so that it is burnt or charred (for example, a blackened piece of chicken that is charred on the outside).  However, an American will sometimes say that the weather is "scorching," meaning that it is very hot. The idiomatic meaning of "scorch" suggests a person getting burnt by the sun, but it doesn't literally mean that the sun will blacken the person's skin. In the example above, Ken uses the idiomatic meaning of "scorch" to emphasize how hot the sun is - not that he actually got his skin burnt. Alternatively, there is another word with a similar idiomatic meaning, as seen below:

Ken: Why did you go outside? You know how hot it is.

Carla: I know, but I left my purse in my car yesterday! Unfortunately it was too late.  It was roasting in there, and my makeup was all ruined!                                       

Ken: Oh no! Was there a lot of makeup?

Carla:  Fortunately, I had only taken a few things with me last night, but it melted my favorite lipstick.

Ken: That's too bad - sorry to hear that.

Meaning: In this case, Carla uses the word "roast," which is usually used in cooking (for example, a roasted turkey) to idiomatically explain how hot it was in her car.  Since roasting is used for an enclosed heat, the idiomatic meaning is most often used when something is hot because it is closed up (for example, Carla's car), but it isn't limited to that use, and a sunbather who sits out in the sun for too long and burns his/her skin can be said to have roasted him/herself.

This week, we have been covering American idioms related to heat due to the high temperatures in Los Angeles. 

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