# March...in like a XXX out like a YYY?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 2, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043 "2010-03-02T21:50:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/1 "2010-03-02T21:50:11Z")
Well?
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### Author:  [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/2 "2010-03-02T22:40:58Z")
Huh? The second one is just wrong, and doesn’t even make sense.
(That reminds me of the scene from “Die Hard With a Vengeance” when Bruce Willis knows one of the German bad guys is pretending to be an American when he says “it’s raining like dogs & cats.”)
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/3 "2010-03-02T22:41:20Z")
“In like a lamb, out like a lion”? Who the hell says that unless they are being ironic? Is it a southern hemisphere thing?
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### Author:  [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/4 "2010-03-02T22:47:53Z")
We use both. It means that if the month starts off with mild weather it will end with harsh weather. If the month starts off with harsh weather it will end with mild weather. Supposedly.
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/5 "2010-03-02T22:55:55Z")
> [@Hampshire](#):
>
> We use both. It means that if the month starts off with mild weather it will end with harsh weather. If the month starts off with harsh weather it will end with mild weather. Supposedly.
Right answer.
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/6 "2010-03-02T22:56:29Z")
The correct idiom is “in like a lion and out like a lamb”. It refers to the beginning of the month consisting of harsh winter weather and the end of the month consisting of spring like weather.
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### Author:  [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/7 "2010-03-02T22:59:07Z")
Clearly the first one. Don’t you guys know[how to settle this](http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=%22In+like+a+lion%22+%22Out+like+a+lamb%22&word2=%22in+like+a+lamb%22+%22Out+like+a+lion%22)?
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/8 "2010-03-02T23:01:05Z")
I’ve always heard the expression as “In like a lion, out like a lamb”. In practice, though, around here the end of March usually seems to be more wintry than the beginning of it.
In addition to the weather reasons, though, “in like a lamb, out like a lion” also doesn’t make astrological sense. In the traditional (and no longer accurate) astrological calendar, March begins under the sign of Leo, and ends under the sign of Ares.
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### Author:  [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/9 "2010-03-02T23:09:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> In addition to the weather reasons, though, “in like a lamb, out like a lion” also doesn’t make astrological sense. In the traditional (and no longer accurate) astrological calendar, March begins under the sign of Leo, and ends under the sign of Ares.
What the hell Ephemeris are you using? Leo is the fourth sign _after_ Ares. In order for March to start with Leo and end in Ares, either March would have to be 8 months long, or Leo and Pisces would have had to switch places in the sky.
Sheesh.
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/10 "2010-03-02T23:17:19Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#):
>
> Clearly the first one. Don’t you guys know[how to settle this](http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=%22In+like+a+lion%22+%22Out+like+a+lamb%22&word2=%22in+like+a+lamb%22+%22Out+like+a+lion%22)?
What that proves is
> [@](#):
>
> In numbers there is quantity
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### Author:  [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/11 "2010-03-03T00:08:57Z")
But did you know that March behaves differently in other countries? In Norway, for example, March comes in like a polar bear and goes out like a walrus. Or, take the case of Honduras where March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a salt marsh harvest mouse.
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### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/12 "2010-03-03T00:38:13Z")
In Soviet weather, March lambs _you!_
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/13 "2010-03-03T00:48:06Z")
> [@](#):
>
> What the hell Ephemeris are you using? Leo is the fourth sign _after_ Ares. In order for March to start with Leo and end in Ares, either March would have to be 8 months long, or Leo and Pisces would have had to switch places in the sky.
To which I offer this stunning rebuttal:
Oops.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/14 "2010-03-03T00:59:18Z")
> [@Hampshire](#):
>
> We use both. It means that if the month starts off with mild weather it will end with harsh weather. If the month starts off with harsh weather it will end with mild weather. Supposedly.
Yes. This is the whole point of the expression, as I learned it.
> [@11811](#):
>
> But did you know that March behaves differently in other countries? In Norway, for example, March comes in like a polar bear and goes out like a walrus. Or, take the case of Honduras where March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a salt marsh harvest mouse.
Unlike the Malay Peninsula where March comes in like a worm-eating fernbird and goes out like a worm-eating fernbird. In fact, their whole year is like a worm-eating fernbird.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/15 "2010-03-03T03:00:24Z")
I had no idea what the hell you were talking about. I thought we were talking about _march_ as in the verb - so, you know, _march in like a lamb and out like a lion_ might be an alternative form of _Teddy Roosevelt’s speak softly and carry a big stick_.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/16 "2010-03-03T03:57:48Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#):
>
> The correct idiom is “in like a lion and out like a lamb”. It refers to the beginning of the month consisting of harsh winter weather and the end of the month consisting of spring like weather.
This is the only way I’ve heard it, too. Perhaps it’s a regional thing. I don’t think March in Chicago ever comes in like a lamb.
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### Author:  [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/17 "2010-03-03T04:39:50Z")
> [@Hampshire](#):
>
> We use both. It means that if the month starts off with mild weather it will end with harsh weather. If the month starts off with harsh weather it will end with mild weather. Supposedly.
This is the way I learned it too. It means March always ends with weather that is the opposite of the weather it started with. We’ve had mild weather here the last few days, so according to the saying we should have storms at the end of the month.
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### Author:  [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2010, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/18 "2010-03-03T05:08:30Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> This is the only way I’ve heard it, too. Perhaps it’s a regional thing. I don’t think March in Chicago ever comes in like a lamb.
Yeah, isn’t the beginning of March the tail end of winter for most of us? I’ve never experienced a March that began like anything resembling a lamb.
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### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/19 "2010-03-03T05:52:41Z")
> [@11811](#):
>
> But did you know that March behaves differently in other countries? In Norway, for example, March comes in like a polar bear and goes out like a walrus. Or, take the case of Honduras where March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a salt marsh harvest mouse.
There are nine different countries where March comes in like a frog and goes out like a golden retriever.
😃
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### Author:  [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2010, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-in-like-a-xxx-out-like-a-yyy/531043/20 "2010-03-03T10:24:25Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#):
>
> Yeah, isn’t the beginning of March the tail end of winter for most of us? I’ve never experienced a March that began like anything resembling a lamb.
The lamb/lion stuff doesn’t refer to temperature, though (the way I learned it). It refers to wind. If March starts windy it will end not-windy or vice-versa.
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