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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Tomorrow is once in a blue moon | Tomorrow is once in a blue moon |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| This isn't just happening in the north of England, but nonetheless it is happening in the north of England, and so the Guardian Northerner is drawing it to your attention. | This isn't just happening in the north of England, but nonetheless it is happening in the north of England, and so the Guardian Northerner is drawing it to your attention. |
| Tomorrow night, Friday 31 August, sees the rising of a blue moon, as in the expression used to describe something which only takes place very rarely. | Tomorrow night, Friday 31 August, sees the rising of a blue moon, as in the expression used to describe something which only takes place very rarely. |
| A blue moon isn't actually all that rare; more frequent, for example, than Preston's wonderful Guild Week which was the subject of a Northerner post yesterday. It appears in the sky every two or three years, as a result of the mismatch between the lunar month and the mixture of Augusts, Octobers etc which humanity has created. | A blue moon isn't actually all that rare; more frequent, for example, than Preston's wonderful Guild Week which was the subject of a Northerner post yesterday. It appears in the sky every two or three years, as a result of the mismatch between the lunar month and the mixture of Augusts, Octobers etc which humanity has created. |
| It is a full moon and therefore lovely to behold; but one thing which it isn't likely to be between Staffordshire, the Trent and the Scottish border, is blue. There are moons which appear to be blue as a result of atmospheric pollution but they can occur at any time. The 'blue' moon almost certainly comes from the old English word belewe meaning 'betray' which was used to describe 'false' moons entering the calendar in the late Spring and causing much confusion about the correct timing of lunar-based Easter. | It is a full moon and therefore lovely to behold; but one thing which it isn't likely to be between Staffordshire, the Trent and the Scottish border, is blue. There are moons which appear to be blue as a result of atmospheric pollution but they can occur at any time. The 'blue' moon almost certainly comes from the old English word belewe meaning 'betray' which was used to describe 'false' moons entering the calendar in the late Spring and causing much confusion about the correct timing of lunar-based Easter. |
| There are other theories including several based on the earliest written record of the expression 'a blue moon', meaning something which is so unusual as to be probably untrue. In a religious tract of 1524, slothful but authoritarian English clergy were lampooned in these terms: | There are other theories including several based on the earliest written record of the expression 'a blue moon', meaning something which is so unusual as to be probably untrue. In a religious tract of 1524, slothful but authoritarian English clergy were lampooned in these terms: |
| If they say the moon is belewe We must believe that it is true | If they say the moon is belewe We must believe that it is true |
| Not a scientific way of going about things, but then faith has its place in the human condition. If you want something very badly and believe that it really could happen - victory in a Paralympic sport for example - tomorrow might just be your night. | Not a scientific way of going about things, but then faith has its place in the human condition. If you want something very badly and believe that it really could happen - victory in a Paralympic sport for example - tomorrow might just be your night. |
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