# Is it "Summer" in Australia right now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 13, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-summer-in-australia-right-now/567467 "2011-01-13T16:15:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2022, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-summer-in-australia-right-now/567467/121 "2022-06-15T14:08:42Z")
I understand that, especially since I grew up in Pakistan. We just happen to operate in No countries where English is the dominant language other than the US, but English is the lingua franca and indeed the “official” language of communication. And in the other countries “autumn” rather than “fall” is used by non-native English speakers. But our HQ folks who are predominantly NOT native English speakers, but whose English is WAY better than the average American’s certainly use “elevator pitch” at least but do say “lift” for the actual device. There are lots of food words that are different in US English and the English used in (say) Chile, Thailand or Croatia. And since we are in the food business, that’s the most confusing thing. Croatian’s “biscuit” is quite different from an American’s. Though of course our non-US colleague are also way better at NOT getting confused by our US centric language use. I think they are just generally more used to dealing with folks from other countries without expecting everyone else to accommodate THEM. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-summer-in-australia-right-now/567467/122 "2022-06-15T20:49:43Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > That image doesn’t seem to be exposed on your website by any obvious link. How would it have been found? It’s exposed here. I guess once it’s on the internet, image search keeps it around. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2022, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-summer-in-australia-right-now/567467/123 "2022-06-15T21:03:11Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Did you also not know that we can see stars that you don’t, and the moon is upside down? It’s not the moon that’s upside down, it’s the people. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2022, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-summer-in-australia-right-now/567467/124 "2022-06-16T20:59:18Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Don’t want to derail the thread I think it’s way, way too late for that. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-summer-in-australia-right-now/567467/125 "2022-07-14T03:39:31Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Australians call the hot season the summer, and the cold season the winter, just as northern hemisphereans do. > [@bob\_2](#): > > Unsurprising, since the Australians you are talking about are descended from northern hemisphereans. No. It’s not human nomenclature defining the seasons. It’s how nature defines the seasons, whatever they are called. For example, take some gardening instructions. > [@](#): > > ## How to propagate [jonquils](https://www.bunnings.com.au/diy-advice/garden/planting-and-growing/how-to-grow-and-care-for-jonquils) > > 1. Lift and divide jonquils after the foliage has completely died down in late spring or early summer. > 2. You may then store the bulbs for planting later in autumn. Now those instructions are equally as applicable for gardeners in Europe, where the plants originated, as for gardeners in Australia. Australians plant jonquils in March-April and they flower in August-September. If you were in Spain and you had some jonquil bulbs which you’d grown successfully in Australia and then planted them in March the locals would think you were an idiot. So anthropomorphically would the plants and the results would be poor. But if you left them in the ground, they’d burst into flower early in the next (European) spring. My understanding is that jonquils don’t know that the month they flower is called September. But they do know that it was cold and now it getting warmer so it’s time to push out those buds. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-summer-in-australia-right-now/567467/126 "2022-07-14T09:33:16Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > No. It’s not human nomenclature defining the seasons. It’s how nature defines the seasons, whatever they are called. Yes, it is us 'umans naming the seasons. It’s the wobbly rotation of the rock we live on, and its relationship to the sun that makes “seasons”. We can call them whatever we want, but those of us in the Northern Hemisphere chose to call the warm season Summer etc. (or whatever that translates to in the various languages. Because those Northern Hemisphereans settled Australia, it follows that they use the same terms. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-summer-in-australia-right-now/567467/127 "2022-07-14T13:11:11Z")
Sounds like you’re using “Northern Hemisphereans” to mean “English speakers”. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-summer-in-australia-right-now/567467/128 "2022-07-14T13:40:21Z")
> [@Roger\_That](#): > > Do southern hemisphere Christians sing a lot of traditional Christmas songs around December 25th, all about delightfully frosty wintry weather, Jack Frost’s nose, riding through the snow etc, or are they all “What Northern hemisphere bullshit is that?” …one of the most popular Christmas songs in New Zealand, unbelievably, is this thing: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0-hWZGIWe_U/maxresdefault.jpg "Snoopy's Christmas -- Royal Guardsmen") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-hWZGIWe_U) > [@Snoopys Christmas](#): > > “Snoopy’s Christmas” reached the No. 1 position in the New Zealand and Australia[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoopy%27s_Christmas#cite_note-4) singles charts in 1967, and remains a popular Christmas song in those countries. The song was the fastest-selling single at the time it was originally released and is estimated to be the biggest selling overseas single sold in New Zealand in the 20th century.[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoopy%27s_Christmas#cite_note-5) The song frequently reenters the New Zealand singles chart, charting in December 1987, 1988, 1989, and 2013.[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoopy%27s_Christmas#cite_note-6) “Snoopy’s Christmas” was also voted “the worst Christmas song of all time” by readers of the _[New Zealand Herald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Herald)_ in 2007.[[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoopy%27s_Christmas#cite_note-7) > > In Canada, the song reached No. 39, January 6, 1968.[[8]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoopy%27s_Christmas#cite_note-8) > **[Snoopy's Christmas | Reception](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoopy%27s_Christmas#Reception)** > > "Snoopy's Christmas" reached the No. 1 position in the New Zealand and Australia singles charts in 1967, and remains a popular Christmas song in those countries. The song was the fastest-selling single at the time it was originally released and is estimated to be the biggest selling overseas single sold in New Zealand in the 20th century. The song frequently reenters the New Zealand singles chart, charting in December 1987, 1988, 1989, and 2013. "Snoopy's Christmas" was also voted "the w In Canad... We all claim to hate it. But we all secretly love it. Also the Northern Hemisphere classics all get plenty of airplay, along with versions in Te Reo Māori. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EVTj1hEHAIg/maxresdefault.jpg "Pō Marie - Maisey Rika and Seth Haapu") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVTj1hEHAIg) [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QChj6AF1Y0E) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TejwDCXuRmE/hqdefault.jpg "Marie Te Po Maori Silent Night | Christmas Songs | Love to Sing") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TejwDCXuRmE) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ngWFup9f4ww/maxresdefault.jpg "Meri Kirihimete from Whānau - 'Pō Marie' (Silent Night') and 'The Kiwi 12 Days of Christmas'") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngWFup9f4ww) And this classic from Billy T James: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PsIVUm8QN14/maxresdefault.jpg "Maori Christmas - Billy T James") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsIVUm8QN14) ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-summer-in-australia-right-now/567467/129 "2022-07-14T15:01:22Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > No. It’s not human nomenclature defining the seasons. But surely it is human nomenclature (which is arbitrary) that defines what we _call_ the seasons. And this is all the question is about. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-summer-in-australia-right-now/567467/130 "2022-07-14T15:03:07Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Sounds like you’re using “Northern Hemisphereans” to mean “English speakers”. I tried to avoid that trap: _“those of us in the Northern Hemisphere chose to call the warm season Summer etc. ( **or whatever that translates to in the various languages.** ”_ ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-summer-in-australia-right-now/567467/131 "2022-07-14T22:43:56Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > But surely it is human nomenclature (which is arbitrary) that defines what we _call_ the seasons. And this is all the question is about. The OP revised their question a number of times and the last time was in post #26 where they acknowledged they had understood the (English) answer. > [@Wheelz](#): > > Let me rephrase again. What to you call _the season in which January occurs? Answer: “Summer.” Got it_ As in post #2 “Summer” is by definition the warmest month(s). Globally. What locally we call that period, depending on the language is summer or birak or burran or the wet season, or verão or zomer or mevsim or été or mùa hè and is, as you say, arbitary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-summer-in-australia-right-now/567467.md?page=6)