Europe's merry month of March

Published on March 22, 2012

Tower of BabelCulture

If we follow the calendar, spring officially begins on 21 March, but the Poles warn that in March everyday the weather can be different: w marcu jak w garncu (March like in a casserole). The fellow pessimistic Italians suggest keeping a supply of umbrellas marzo pazzerello, esce il sole e prendi l’ombrello (Crazy March - sun shines but take your umbrella).

For the Spaniards, the rainy month is April  en abril, agua es mil(In April, thousand waters), whilst the Poles use wordplay to call April Kwiecień plecień, poprzeplata, trochę zimy, trochę lata because we get a mix of everything – a bit of winter, a bit of summer, you just never know! The Germans just dismiss the month: April, April - der macht was er will(April, April, it does what it likes).

The pragmatic French advise covering up until May: en avril, ne te découvre pas d'un fil. En mai, fais ce qu'il te plaît(In April, don't take off a thread, but do as you like in May). Many nations are happy to see the Wonnemonat Mai(Germany) or the merry month of may, as the English nursery rhyme goes. The utopia stretches as far as Poland: - W maju jak w raju (May feels like heaven).

The usually sunny Spaniards fear the prolongation of the cold, preferring to not take their coats off until 40 May - aka 10 June - hasta el 40 de mayo no te quites el sayo . The weather remains one of the few phenomenons in which we do not have a say. The only thing that is left for us to decide, as the Spanish would say, is to hacer su agosto (make your own August) - make use of what you can while you still can, especially in an economic sense, when businesses enjoy a good period ... some in a financial crisis too.

First published on cafebabel.com on 25 March 2009

Illustration: ©Henning Studte/ studte-cartoon.de/

Translated from Kwiecień plecień!