Hello from balmy Yaounde, Cameroon, where we're in the middle of the dry season, which doubles as the hot season. Oddly enough, even in Central Africa, the temperature makes for good conversation. My wife has always described highs in the mid 80s (and above, such as Paraguay's pleasant 105-degree scorchers) as "warm": "My, it's warm today."
For me, it's "hot": ("hotter than hell," "hotter than July") - I use "hot" to describe a heat that is uncomfortable, often excessive for my tastes. When she uses "warm" for these days, it gives me pause, because for me "warm" describes a pleasant, if elevated temperature, like that on a spring morning in April that opens with a warming sunrise before dousing us with boat-building rains.
To my ear, she uses "warm" and "hot" interchangeably, at least for the weather.
Is this difference in usage regional? Are both acceptable? Is this worth a fevered consideration?
Thanks, Steve
Maybe she is just practicing understatement. I have heard that a lot at either extreme. Just the other week everyone around here was asking, "Is it cold enough for you?" The highs were around 5 degrees F.
Emmett
Here in Phoenix, "warm" means "over 105". It's not "hot" until it hits 110.
(And when it gets down to seventy, I have to put on a sweater.)
And here in Alaska's Banana Belt, on those relatively rare occasions when it reaches seventy it's shorts and tee shirts, and even the odd grumble about how hot it is.
Peter