Cyclone Nargis

A hurricane is a cyclone.

A typhoon is a cyclone.

A tornado is a cyclone.

A tropical storm is a cyclone.

You get the point — there are many types of cyclones.

Why, then, do we hear all about the devastating “cyclone” in Burma? That is, why can’t we specify the type of cyclone the way we routinely do when it comes to domestic storms?

(For example, it was a hurricane named Katrina, not just any cyclone, that caused the 2005 destruction of the Gulf of Mexico coast. And it was a tornado, not just any cyclone, that hit Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.)

Comments

Anonymous said…
to make things even more complicated in the northern pacific we have
typhoons--you're right it would simplify things to have one termininology but then we would lose the quirky,interesting,confusing,con-
versation-generating words we use now.
May 23, 2008
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