#40: Eskimos Don’t Have Too Many Names for Snow

While Eskimos do have a whopping 50 different words for snow, that’s not unusual. The linguist community has battled over this claim since the early 1900s, and it was finally laid to rest in 2013. While that seems like a large number, there are twelve words in English, but over 180 words associated with snow in the language of the Sami, who live in the northern region of Scandinavia.

The Sami also have over 1000 different words for reindeer. The Scots have 421 words to describe winter conditions, so 50 doesn’t seem so high in the grand scheme of things. Scientists and linguists have begun to recognize that these language patterns can be the difference between life and death when you’re constantly surrounded by certain weather conditions.