williwaw

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The Word of the Day for November 15 is: 

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

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

Did you know?
          In 1900, Captain Joshua Slocum described williwaws as “compressed 
gales of wind … that Boreas handed down over the hills in chunks.” To 
unsuspecting sailors or pilots, such winds might seem to come out of nowhere -- 
just like word “williwaw” 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 writers were British, and indications are that they may have learned the 
word from British sailors and seal hunters. Where they got the word, we cannot 
say. 





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