Blue Moon

Discussion in 'Linguistics' started by Orleander, Dec 31, 2009.

  1. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    OK, there is supposed to be a blue moon on New Years Eve. Its not even blue. If its not blue, then why call it a blue moon? The damn thing might as well be called 'electric eel'!

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  3. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    And also:

    Wiki
    .
     
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  5. glaucon tending tangentially Registered Senior Member

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    I'm going to take a stab at this, though, I could be totally wrong here..... lol

    I think it has to do with the fact that this full moon occurs during the daytime. Here in the EST timezone, it's scheduled for c. 2 pm. Given the time of year, and the way the early morning and afternoon light looks [bluish.. due to the frequency of such light...], the full moon in such a sky tends to look palish blue...
    I've noticed the exact same appearance during the winter months if I get up early to go out for a morning photoshoot.

    Again, I could be completely wrong... lol
     
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  7. glaucon tending tangentially Registered Senior Member

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    See. There ya go... Dywyddyr trashed me... lol
     
  8. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    Its not anymore bluish than it ever is. Its the power of suggestion.
     
  9. glaucon tending tangentially Registered Senior Member

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    lol

    My photos tend to disagree.

    And trust me, my cameras sadly, never are open to suggestion....
     
  10. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    what photos?
     
  11. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Although not his, here's one I grabbed from Google...

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  12. Medicine*Woman Jesus: Mythstory--Not History! Valued Senior Member

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    *************
    M*W: I could be wrong, but I've heard that a "blue moon" is an extra new moon that occurs 1-2 times per year, hence the "rarity" of it. Perhaps it takes on a blue tone since apparently it rises along with the sun like a new moon (I think). It would be a reflection of the sky. Why is the sky blue? Isn't it because of a reflection of the water on Earth, or is it the other way around. I forget. My mother always said, "once in a blue moon" when she was referring to my good behavior.
     
  13. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    The blue sky is caused by Rayleigh scattering in which the shorter wavelengths get "scattered" more than the longer ones. Here's a real quick read: http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:2Qand82dAs0J:hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/atmos/blusky.html+raleigh+scattering&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
     
  14. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    I'm not gonna believe that's a real unphotoshopped picture
     
  15. glaucon tending tangentially Registered Senior Member

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  16. candy Valued Senior Member

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    A blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month.
     
  17. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    I know !!!!!!
    But its not blue is it!?
    Call it a secondary moon. Or a once a year moon. BUT ITS NOT BLUE!!!
     
  18. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Come on, can't your imagination ever let you believe in things?
     
  19. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    I'm not a christian for crying out loud.
     
  20. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    :shrug:
     
  21. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    It's not easy to figure out the motivation behind the coinage of an idiom. "Humongous" was invented in my lifetime, but I can't tell you why. The dictionary says it's a combination of "huge" with the first syllable of "monstrous" and the stress pattern of "tremendous," but that's rather dry and doesn't tell me why anybody thought to choose those particular phonemes. How about the usage of "bitchin'" back in my day, to mean "wonderful"??

    They needed a phrase for a rare moon, so they called it a blue moon, which is certainly rare. Would you be any happier if they'd called it a linen moon or a paisley moon or Farmer Brown's moon?

    Some things we can explain. "Chick" is simply Spanish chica, literally "little one," and in Spanish it's not even sexist. Girls call boys chicos.

    But some things we can't, especially things that happened long ago before writing was common.
     
  22. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    how about 'rare moon'???? :shrug:
     
  23. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    "Rare" is a French word that only goes back a few centuries, to when the Normans ruled England. (Well technically, they never stopped. They just assimilated and intermarried and started speaking English.) I have no idea how the Anglo-Saxons would have expressed the concept of rarity.

    Perhaps by using a metaphor? Oh wait, that's what they did!
     

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