whale
n.— «“Whale” season is in full swing up in Colorado’s high country, as the state’s ski resorts pump thousands of gallons of water through snowmaking equipment to create autumn’s signature-shaped piles of artificial snow.…“We’ve been blowing it into whales in the shady parts of the mountain, especially on top where it doesn’t warm up too much.”…Taking advantage of the colder overnight temperatures in the preseason, resorts direct snowmaking guns to shoot whale-shaped piles of snow in shady areas, then use Snowcat grooming equipment to distribute the snow across the trails.» —“Colo. ski resort snow guns having a ‘whale’ of a time” by Michelle Mahoney Denver Post (Colorado) Oct. 12, 1993. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Michelle in Thorne Bay, Alaska, wonders why a skittish person may be called a nervous Nellie. That term is associated with the nickname of politician Frank B. Kellogg, who was considered overly emotional and indecisive, but who also won the 1929...
After our conversation about the expression dingle day, a term used by workers at a research station in Antarctica to denote bright, sunny weather, a listener offers a possible explanation for this term. It may derive from the idea of the skies...