Reader's Digest 7/8月号 "World of Medicene" からの引用です。
HEAT CAN MAKE YOUR BRAIN SLUGGISH
If you find it hard to get your work done during the dog days of summer, blame the heat. In a Harvard University study, 20 students who lived in a dormitory with no air-conditioning had slower reaction times, 13 percent lower performance on basic arithmetic tests, and a nearly 10 percent reduction in the number of correct responses per minutes compared with students who lived in an air-conditioned building.
"the dog days" は猛暑の日だとは容易に推測できますが、何故「犬の日」が猛暑と関係があるのでしょうか？ 犬は暑さに弱く、暑いと舌を出してハーハーと呼吸をするからでしょうか？ 疑問が湧き、由来が気になり調べました。
・Farlex Dictionary of Idioms
The period in the summer often thought to be hottest, usually considered to be July 3 to August 11. In ancient times, people associated the heat during this period with the concurrent rising of Sirius, nicknamed "the dog star." The phrase is a translation of the Latin dies caniculares, meaning "dog star days."
・American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms:
Hot, sultry summer weather; also, a period of stagnation. For example, It's hard to get much work done during the dog days, or Every winter there's a week or two of dog days when sales drop dramatically. The term alludes to the period between early July and early September, when Sirius, the so-called Dog Star, rises and sets with the sun. The ancient Romans called this phenomenon dies caniculares, which was translated as "dog days" in the first half of the 1500s.
星の名前から来ているとは全く気が付きませんでした。
HEAT CAN MAKE YOUR BRAIN SLUGGISH
If you find it hard to get your work done during the dog days of summer, blame the heat. In a Harvard University study, 20 students who lived in a dormitory with no air-conditioning had slower reaction times, 13 percent lower performance on basic arithmetic tests, and a nearly 10 percent reduction in the number of correct responses per minutes compared with students who lived in an air-conditioned building.
"the dog days" は猛暑の日だとは容易に推測できますが、何故「犬の日」が猛暑と関係があるのでしょうか？ 犬は暑さに弱く、暑いと舌を出してハーハーと呼吸をするからでしょうか？ 疑問が湧き、由来が気になり調べました。
・Farlex Dictionary of Idioms
The period in the summer often thought to be hottest, usually considered to be July 3 to August 11. In ancient times, people associated the heat during this period with the concurrent rising of Sirius, nicknamed "the dog star." The phrase is a translation of the Latin dies caniculares, meaning "dog star days."
・American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms:
Hot, sultry summer weather; also, a period of stagnation. For example, It's hard to get much work done during the dog days, or Every winter there's a week or two of dog days when sales drop dramatically. The term alludes to the period between early July and early September, when Sirius, the so-called Dog Star, rises and sets with the sun. The ancient Romans called this phenomenon dies caniculares, which was translated as "dog days" in the first half of the 1500s.
星の名前から来ているとは全く気が付きませんでした。
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