Over the weekend I had a discussion about raising money for an anniversary of an arts festival. Several of us were wondering if we could raise the money we did 10 years ago, again this year. One of the committee members said that we couldn't, as 10 years ago it was the 'perfect storm'. No one on the committee needed any explanation of the expression, as we all understood that 10 years ago there had been several factors in play that all pointed to a very special-hardly-ever-to-be-repeated-again scenario. In this conversatin, the term Perfect Storm came from a movie about Gloucester, MA, which is a swordfishing community. A combination of a hurricane, a nor-easter and a blizzard created a storm that eradicated and destroyed a fishing boat returning to the shore with a full load of swordfish. Our entertainment/arts industry has the capacity to influence language and culture.
We derive the word 'storm' from O.E. 'storm' and in the late 14c. it was used as a verb 'to rage and be violent'. Perfect is derived from the early 13 c., O.Fr. 'parfit' and the L. 'perfectus' that means "completed".
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