The Eskimo Words For Snow Myth

Another myth… busted. This one comes from the Great White North.

Eskimos don’t have many times more “words” for “snow” than English does. Because several Eskimo languages are polysynthetic, like German, they allow words to be smashed together to form a new word, when in English such a word would be considered a phrase. Some of the languages have a few more words for snow than English, some a few less. Yupik, for instance, has around 24 words to describe frozen water… while English has around 40.

Another myth… busted. This one comes from the Great White North.

Eskimos don’t have many times more “words” for “snow” than English does. Because several Eskimo languages are polysynthetic, like German, they allow words to be smashed together to form a new word, when in English such a word would be considered a phrase. Some of the languages have a few more words for snow than English, some a few less. Yupik, for instance, has around 24 words to describe frozen water… while English has around 40.

Now according to the discussion page, the debunking has been debunked… but the long and short of it is, some Eskimo languages have a few more words for snow, some a few less. So the next time someone tries to use this tired old canard, you can prepare a ready comeback to look the part of the pedantic curmudgeon you really are inside!