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We’ve all heard the phrase “Dog Days of Summer” and I was curious about its meaning so I started to read up about it. It was pretty interesting and I learned some things so I thought I’d share.

The phrase was originally just “Dog Days” and referred to the hottest days of summer. The phrase dates back to the ancient Rome where their Dog Days were between July 23-24th and August 23-24th.  They associated the hot days with the star Sirius, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major.  I was saddened to learn that the Romans would sacrifice a “brown dog” at the beginning of the Dog Days to appease the rage of Sirius thinking the star was the cause of the hot weather.  What were they thinking? Glad I wasn’t living in those times!

I always thought of Dog Days as just being lazy days during the hot and humid days of summer.  The time when everyone including our dogs slow down and succumb to the heat.

In recent years, the phrase takes on a new meaning.  This is one I hadn’t known about at all and it references the American Stock exchange of all things.  Apparently, summer is typically a slow time for our stock market and poorly performing stocks with little potential are referred to as “dogs.”

Lastly, the Old Farmer’s Almanac lists the timing of the Dog Days as the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11, coinciding with the ancient (at sunrise) rising of the Dog Star, Sirius. These are the days of the year when rainfall is at its lowest levels.