Learn Czech with Charles: Words and phrases that express extreme heat

• It's going to be horko, vedro, pařák, hic. All of these are synonyms of the word teplo (warm), which, according to the Dictionary of Standard Czech, expresses a state between cold and hot.
• Even more intense heat deserves a stronger expression: when it's strašné horko (terribly hot) outside, or even horko jako v peci (hot as in an oven) it's time for shorts and air conditioning!
• In Czech, however, you will often hear that it is děsné vedro (terribly hot) outside or vedro jako v pekle (hot as in hell).

The word horko comes from the Indo-European root gher-, as do the verbs hořet or hřát, and is therefore related to fire and the heat it provides. Vedro also has an Indo-European origin, meaning to blow, to smolder, from which words such as English weather or German wetter have been derived. Some etymologists, however, attribute the Czech word vedro to a Proto-Slavic origin with the old meaning of drying with heat or withering.

• Intense summer weather in Czechis is often compared to výheň (a forge), described as příšerná výheň (a terrible fire), or likened to another climate altogether: úplné tropy (the whole tropics).
• As weather intensity increases around the world sometimes we get weather that's šílené parno or pařák (steamy). This is when the humidity outside creates the feel of being in a laundry room. Parno is related to the word pára (steam), as is parník (a steamship).

Do you want to speak Czech like a native this summer? Check out the July and August Summer Camps of ÚJOP, Charles University.