Relative Temperature

[CSGirl]

I got this from one of my friends that usually send me crud, but this actually amused me. If you're from western or upstate NY, this'll probably amuse you too. [It says Upstate NY, but applies to western NY too].

60 above zero:
Floridians turn on the heat.
People in Upstate New York plant gardens.

50 above zero:
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
People in Watertown sunbathe.

40 above zero:
Italian & English cars won't start.
People in Upstate New York drive with the windows down.

32 above zero:
Distilled water freezes.
The water in Saranac Lake gets thicker.

20 above zero:
Floridians don coats, thermal
underwear, gloves, wool hats.
People in Upstate New York throw on a flannel shirt.

15 above zero:
New York landlords finally turn up the heat.
People in Lake Placid have the last cookout before it gets cold.

Zero:
People in Miami all die.
People in Pulaski close the windows.

10 below zero:
Californians fly away to Mexico
People in Upstate New York get out their winter coats.

25 below zero:
Hollywood disintegrates.
The Girl Scouts in Upstate New York are selling cookies door to door.

40 below zero:
Washington DC runs out of hot air.
People in Carthage let the dogs sleep indoors.

100 below zero:
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Folks in Potsdam get upset because they can't start the Mini-Van.

460 below zero:
ALL atomic motion stops (absolute zero on the Kelvin scale.) People in Upstate New York start saying..."Cold 'nuff fer ya?"

500 below zero:
Hell freezes over.

Upstate New York public schools will open 2 hours late

My mom forwarded this to me, using Colorado and Denver instead of New York. I've also seen it for Minnesota.

[Beachlife!]

Locally, I'm always amused by how we view temperatures at different times of the year:

40 in September is cold. 40 in February and I'm out in short sleaves.

50 in August is cool. 50 in February is shorts weather.

[CSGirl]

Originally Posted by Beachlife!

Locally, I'm always amused by how we view temperatures at different times of the year:

40 in September is cold. 40 in February and I'm out in short sleaves.

50 in August is cool. 50 in February is shorts weather.

Very true. It's even true for the same people, being in different places. For example, if it was 50 degrees her right now, I would be wearing short sleeves, and sitting out on the quad doing homework. When I was home in CT for break, it got up to 50, but I was still wearing long sleeves, and had the heat on.

[Spam & Cookies-mmm]

20 above zero:
Floridians don coats, thermal
underwear, gloves, wool hats.
People in Upstate New York throw on a flannel shirt.

Are you kidding? We had all that stuff on at 50 degrees! By 20, we've shut down completely.

We don't have real thermal underwear either. What you'll actually catch us doing is wearing our sweatpants or pajamas under our clothes.

[zabia]

Originally Posted by Spam & Cookies-mmm

Are you kidding? We had all that stuff on at 50 degrees! By 20, we've shut down completely.

We don't have real thermal underwear either. What you'll actually catch us doing is wearing our sweatpants or pajamas under our clothes.

Spam beat me to it. Though I wouldn't have thought of the pajama joke. (Though I haven't done the pajama thing, I have been know to wear 2 pairs of pantyhose under pants.)

I know me, if it hit 70, I was in a sweater. Now that I live in VA, I'm still freezing my butt off. Thankfully, I get to plan my own schedule, so I've been know not even come downstairs on really cold days. Heck, I've been know to not even get out of bed unless I have to.

[Stoneage Dinosaur]

There's a version that's been doing the rounds in the UK for a while now, with a better punchline (unless you're a Sunderland fan).

Example here

[Bryan With a 'Y']

Originally Posted by ladyknight

My mom forwarded this to me, using Colorado and Denver instead of New York. I've also seen it for Minnesota.

Yah, sounds like upstate NY must get pretty chilly, huh?

Well, must get back to the patio of my igloo. We're grillin' blubber steaks tonight!

Bryan 'Anyone for muktuk?' With a 'Y'

I'm going to go way off in left field and ask: 60 above zero? Wouldn't that be 60° (F)? I've never heard it said as "above zero" or "below zero". Below freezing, perhaps, but not zero.

[inkrose115]

And I've always felt weird as a NYer in Philly. I ran out in a short sleeves and a T-shirt while everyone was bundled up and I ran by them yelling "Whacha gonna do if it actually gets cold?" I got some weird looks.

[Beachlife!]

It got into the 40s today and I drove for a while with my windows down, and the sunroof open.

[katdixo]

Originally Posted by PrometheusX303

I'm going to go way off in left field and ask: 60 above zero? Wouldn't that be 60° (F)? I've never heard it said as "above zero" or "below zero". Below freezing, perhaps, but not zero.

I have never heard "above zero" used, but I have often heard of "below zero" or just "below" (as in "twenty below").

I have heard "below freezing" used, but not with a specific temperature. That is, you might say, "It's below freezing today," but you wouldn't say, "It's ten degrees below freezing today."

So, yes, it is odd to say "60 degrees above zero," but "60 degrees below zero" is not odd. I suppose they used the parallel construction for emphasis.