# Laying snow **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 27, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277 "2009-01-27T20:34:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/1 "2009-01-27T20:34:05Z")
Get your mind out of the gutter. There was a dusting of snow this morning. When I got to the office I told my coworker that I drove through some. She asked, ‘Is it laying?’ (i.e., she was asking if the snow was beginning to accumulate.) I’ve never heard this before. I would say ‘Is it sticking?’. She’s originally from Pennsylvania. Is ‘laying’ an Eastern idiom for snow in the act of accumulating, as ‘sticking’ is in my own experience? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/2 "2009-01-27T20:36:14Z")
That’s a new one on me. My wife is from Penn and she’s had plenty of opertunities to use the term. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/3 "2009-01-27T20:58:20Z")
Hens lay, snow sticks. -Southern Wisconsin. Was it enough to track a cat? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/4 "2009-01-27T20:59:54Z")
When I was a kid in Pennsylvania 30 years ago, “laying” was a common term. Since moving to New England 20 years ago, the snow sticks or accumulates. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/5 "2009-01-27T21:03:20Z")
Gives new meaning to the term “12 inches of Snow”. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/6 "2009-01-27T21:03:55Z")
Maryland (Baltimore) checking in - we used to say “laying”. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/7 "2009-01-27T21:05:06Z")
Wisconsin/Minnesota resident - snow sticks, it doesn’t lay. At least not around here so much. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/8 "2009-01-27T23:34:16Z")
I’ve never heard of snow “laying.” ---
**Author:** ![KnitWit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@KnitWit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KnitWit)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/9 "2009-01-27T23:38:21Z")
Illinois origins, most recently moved from Boston to Iowa…no snow laying in my lifetime. Definitely sticking or accumulating. I’m hoping for 6-8 inches tonight, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/10 "2009-01-27T23:45:58Z")
> [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](#): > > Maryland (Baltimore) checking in - we used to say “laying”. She did live in Maryland for a while. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/11 "2009-01-27T23:47:27Z")
I’ve heard “laying” in regard to snow. Lived in PA most of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/12 "2009-01-27T23:49:06Z")
> [@KnitWit](#): > > I’m hoping for 6-8 inches tonight, myself. I’m sure you are. 😛 I’m with most of the other posters, I’ve never heard anything other than sticking. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/13 "2009-01-27T23:53:02Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Gives new meaning to the term “12 inches of Snow”. A very old alleged radio blooper … > [@](#): > > In a recent weather report which described the snowfall in the Northwest, the announcer on KHAR, Alaska, said: “And Helena got six inches during the night . . . Helena, Montana, that is!” Source: [Snow Job | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/humor/jokes/snowjob.asp) ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/14 "2009-01-28T00:18:52Z")
I’ve never heard “sticking” or “laying” to refer to snow accumulation. Either we say it’s accumulating or “staying (on the ground)”. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/15 "2009-01-28T02:07:35Z")
It must stay along the Mason-Dixon border. Even with all the Pennsylvania emigrants hanging out around Canton and Akron, I’ve never encountered “laying” used that way. Sticking, staying, and accumulating I have encountered, but not laying. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/16 "2009-01-28T02:30:37Z")
Born in Baltimore, lived 53 years in Maryland. Heard “laying” (WRT snow) for the first time about two minutes ago in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/17 "2009-01-28T02:43:58Z")
> [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](#): > > Maryland (Baltimore) checking in - we used to say “laying”. Grew up in Towson (just outside Baltimore, 1967-1975), that’s what we always said. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/18 "2009-01-28T03:46:01Z")
> [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](#): > > Maryland (Baltimore) checking in - we used to say “laying”. > [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Grew up in Towson (just outside Baltimore, 1967-1975), that’s what we always said. Ditto. We always said the snow was laying. Some people said sticking, though; the terms were used interchangeably. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/19 "2009-01-28T03:48:57Z")
Born and raised in Philadelphia and know the Philly burbs and South Jersey inside out and never heard ‘snow laying’ until I read this. ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277/20 "2009-01-28T04:19:59Z")
Wisconsinite. I would use the term “stick” only in one sense with regard to snowfall. I might say “It snowed a little bit in early May but, it didn’t stick [around].” I would never use, nor have I ever heard “lay” used in the same situation. In most situations I would say something like “We only had two . . . maybe three inches [of snow] last night.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laying-snow/483277.md?page=2)