Every occupation has a vocabulary of its own; those whose business is to keep track of the weather are no exception, says the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. They come up with what is known as “wacky weather words” every once in a while. Take the term “frog strangler.” Meteorologists down south in 1870 are said to have come with the term when describing a particularly heavy downpours. More recently, just a couple of years ago, a meteorologist in Texas, Reed Timmer, dreamed up the term “Gorilla Hail” when he reported a particularly nasty hail storm.  And “Bear’s Cage” was first used to describe a tornado in the 1996 movie Twister.

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Heavenly timing

The 39,000 citizens of the tiny 62 square mile principality of Liechtenstein, located between Switzerland and Austria, were a bit shaken by back-to-back earthquakes recently, reports the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. But they weren’t as stunned as was parliamentarian Bettina Petzold-Maehr who at the time was discussing  legislation regarding the need for — you got it — earthquake insurance. Bettina, at least, took it all in stride, chuckling at the timing of the two quakes. No one was injured.

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Imbecilli!

Teen tourists from Australia decided to do some surfing in Venice’s famous Grand Canal not long ago; Mayor Luigi Brugnaro call them “imbecilli,” fining them to the tune of $1,500 each for their miscreant behavior. Brugnaro also described them as “two overbearing idiots who make a mockery of the City.” Tourists and locals used their phones to videotape the boys on their motorized surf boards. To say that the mayor was upset by the incident is an understatement; he promised to find other reasons to prosecute them.

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