williwaw

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The Word of the Day for November 15 is:=20

williwaw   \WILL-ih-waw\   noun
         *1 a : a sudden violent gust of cold land air common along moun=
tainous coasts of high latitudes  b : a sudden violent wind
     2 : a violent commotion=20

Example sentence:
          The sailors had all heard stories of ships capsized by the wil=
liwaws that plagued the strait.

Did you know?
          In 1900, Captain Joshua Slocum described williwaws as =E2=80=9C=
compressed gales of wind =E2=80=A6 that Boreas handed down over the hill=
s in chunks.=E2=80=9D To unsuspecting sailors or pilots, such winds migh=
t seem to come out of nowhere -- just like word =E2=80=9Cwilliwaw=E2=80=9D=
 did some 150 years ago. All anyone knows about the origin of the wordis=
 that it was first used by writers in the mid-1800s to name fierce winds=
 in the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America. The wri=
ters were British, and indications are that they may have learned the wo=
rd from British sailors and seal hunters. Where they got the word, we ca=
nnot say.=20





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