Word of the Day: bumbershoot

bumbershoot (n)

An umbrella.

"He stared ruefully at the remains of his bumbershoot, which had blown inside out."
--Analog Science Fiction and Fact, May 2006 issue

This is actually a more common word than I usually post; I already knew what it meant before stumbling across it. I didn't know, though, that there is a music and arts festival by that name that takes place every year in Seattle. It rains a lot in Seattle, you see....

This weekend, it's rained a lot here in New Jersey, too, along with high winds, and my own bumbershoot has "blown inside out" a few times, to the point that I need to get a new one. The umbrella is one of those inventions that has never been quite perfected. Either that, or the manufacturers deliberately make them too fragile to survive both wind and rain. Sometimes I think I'd rather wear one of those rubbery yellow rain ponchos or rain coats with the buckles, like I had as a kid. Uncool but dry...it might be worth it.