Born on the 梅雨

It's rainy this week. People have been talking about whether this is the beginning of rainy season. It's earlier than it usually starts - typically around the first week of June for the Tokyo area. But, it is raining a lot. In Japanese, rainy season and the rains it brings are called (o)tsuyu or bai-u, both written as 梅雨. It's a faithful question on kanji quizzes for those unusual readings. The basic readings for the evocative characters that make up the word, "plum" and "rain," would be "ume" and "ame." (Do you want to argue about how I'm simplifying the explanation? Do you, punk? I didn't think so.)
What's my point? I just wanted you to chuckle with me by humming this whenever anyone mentions 梅雨. Of course, depending on who you hang out with, this may not be too often.





Incidentally, I posted a link to Hank Williams singing Jambalaya on the Bayou on Twitter. I wasn't really thinking of the lyrics. I knew it went "crawfish pie, something something bayou" and thought it was bay-oo. Listening to it now, it doesn't rhyme with the Japanese at all.
Me-oh-my-oh.