What does 夏雪年

Hi All, I know its literal means Summer Snow year, but does it have an idiom like best time or worst times or something?

Hi Michael,

Sorry I missed your question and hadn't replied earlier.

You're correct about 夏雪年's literal translation, but this isn't really a phrase that we use to describe a particularly cold summer. In fact, the most common word or idiom that describes a summer snow in Chinese is perhaps the name of a plant!

六月雪 (liùyuè xuě), literally "June snow", is a flowering plant in the serissa family that has white blossoms in the month of -- you've guessed it, June! Known as "snow rose" in English,  六月雪's delicate petals floating around in the air gives the illusion of snow during summer, and hence the name. 

If I come across an idiom specifically attributed to a year that's getting snow in the summer, I'll make sure to update you here. Who knows, given that Chinese is a living language that's constantly evolving and the acceleration of climate change, maybe some words will be invented in the near future to directly indicate "summer snow year".

Hope that was somewhat helpful. ;)


Cheers,
Eleanor