Do Americans know what drizzle is?

[Starkers]

Apologies in advance cos I realise this is probably a really dumb question but...

I'm writing a short story that I hope to submit to an American publisher. I've kept it fairly nondescript in terms of setting and characters; they could be American, British, whatever...but I used the word drizzle and had the sudden paranoia that this was a very British term for fine rain that might go completely over non British heads.

I can change it easily enough, it just works really well in terms of the story so I'd like to keep it if I c an

 

[thestrangequark]

I grew up in Seattle. I know what drizzle is.

 

[RoJoHen]

Drizzle is very light rain. We definitely use it in America.

 

[Smiley]

If it's referencing rain or frosting, then drizzle can be an appropriate word for Americans. There are very few days in central AZ that it does drizzle, but I've had some cause to use the word.

 

[RoJoHen]

Shouldn't the British spelling have an unnecessary "u" in the middle of it somewhere, though?

 

[Lindley]

It's that form of precipitation which can't quite decide whether it wants to be rain or just extreme humidity.

 

[Finn]

Shouldn't the British spelling have an unnecessary "u" in the middle of it somewhere, though?

Druzzle?

 

[Starkers]

druzzle it is! Thanks everyone!

Actually I was thinking it might be an idea to remove several Us from some words as well, not to mention reaplace a few Ss with Zs as well

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I prefer Mizzle (made popular by Francis Wilson on the 1980s).

Yeah... drizzle and mizzle... fo' shizzle.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Yeah, if you live on the coast of New England you have an intimate knowledge of drizzle. And vice versa.

 

[Amaris]

Oh, yes. Drizzle is often used in local weather reports where we live, and that's in a Midwestern state.

 

[Jetfire]

I like a drizzle of Ranch dressing on my salad.

 

[Capn Flukie]

I prefer Mizzle (made popular by Francis Wilson on the 1980s).

Yeah... drizzle and mizzle... fo' shizzle.

Twizzle mah nizzles!

 

[Rek]

Its a normal word here in Canada too...

 

[The Great Meech]

Indeed. Much of our slang is shared with the Americans.

Also, honestly? Most people, when encountering a term they don't know, will gloss over it. Neil Gaiman used "gum boots" in American Gods and I didn't know he'd used a Britishism until I heard the term elswhere. (They're rubber boots or rain boots over here.)

 

[Capn Flukie]

^ I first heard 'gum boots' from Come Together by The Beatles.

 

[TrekAlliance92]

As someone who has been a weather anchor for a while, I would say that drizzle is a fairly common term, although some people use it interchangeably with mist.

In weather, it is an official condition, and often described as "light drizzle" or in some cases, there can even be "heavy drizzle," which is otherwise very, VERY light rain. :P

 

[spinnerlys]

Father Lucifer
You never looked so sane
You always did prefer the drizzle to the rain
Tell me that you're still in love with that Milkmaid
How's the Lizzies
How's your Jesus christ been hanging

from North Carolina born Tori Amos, but I don't even have English as my native tongue

 

[RAMA]

Yup we say drizzle a lot here in the USA.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ I first heard 'gum boots' from Come Together by The Beatles.

I heard it with the 'Gumby' characters from Monty Python. I had no idea what the word 'Gumby' meant, so I had to look it up.