Now that Phil Has Come and Gone...
Punxutawney Phil has appeared, amid the usual pomp and circumstance, to do his annual weather prediction, and, it seems, has left for warmer climes while we deal with another six weeks of winter.
So, what's the story behind our favorite February critter?
FOLKLORE
On February 2 each year Punxsutawney holds a civic festival with music and food. During the ceremony, which begins well before the winter sunrise, Phil emerges from his temporary home on Gobbler's Knob, located in a rural area about 2 miles southeast of the town. According to the tradition, if Phil sees his shadow and returns to his hole, he has predicted six more weeks of winter-like weather. If Phil does not see his shadow, he has predicted an "early spring.” Punxsutawney's event is the most famous of many Groundhog Day festivals held in the United States and Canada. The event formally began in 1887, although its roots go back even further.
The event is based upon a communal light-hearted suspension of disbelief which extends to the assertion that the same groundhog has been making predictions since the 19th century.
The event is organized by the "Inner Circle" – recognizable by their top hats and tuxedos – who ostensibly communicate with Phil to receive his prediction. The vice president of the Inner Circle prepares two scrolls in advance of the actual ceremony, one proclaiming six more weeks of winter and one proclaiming an early spring. At daybreak on February 2, Punxsutawney Phil awakens from his burrow on Gobbler's Knob, is helped to the top of the stump by his handlers, and purportedly explains to the president of the Inner Circle, in a language known as "Groundhogese," whether he has seen his shadow. The president of the Inner Circle, the only person able to understand Groundhogese through his possession of an ancient acacia wood cane, then interprets Phil's message, and directs the vice president to read the proper scroll to the crowd gathered on Gobbler's Knob and the masses of "phaithphil phollowers" tuned in to live broadcasts around the world.
Outside of Groundhog Day, Phil resides with a mate, Phyllis, at the Punxsutawney Memorial Library in a climate-controlled environment. In March 2024, the Inner Circle announced that Phil had sired two babies, the first time in the history of the event that such a siring had happened; the birth surprised the Inner Circle, which had assumed that groundhogs do not breed in captivity. As a result of the births, the family will move permanently to Gobbler's Knob. The Inner Circle disowned the babies from ever inheriting their father's position.
PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL TRADITIONS
The practices and lore of Punxsutawney Phil's predictions are predicated on a light-hearted suspension of disbelief by those involved. According to the lore, there is only one Phil, and all other weather-predicting groundhogs are impostors. It is claimed that this one groundhog has lived to make weather prognostications since 1886, sustained by drinks of "groundhog punch" or "elixir of life" administered at the annual Groundhog Picnic in the fall.
According to the Groundhog Club, Phil, after the prediction, speaks to the club president in the language of 'Groundhogese', which supposedly only the current president can understand, and then his prediction is translated and revealed to all.
The Groundhog Day celebration is rooted in Germanic tradition that says that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on February 2, the Christian celebration of Candlemas, winter and cold weather will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says, spring will come early. In Germany, the tradition evolved into a myth that if the sun came out on Candlemas, a hedgehog would cast its shadow, predicting snow all the way into May. When German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania, they transferred the tradition onto local fauna, replacing hedgehogs with groundhogs. Several other towns in the region hold similar Groundhog Day events.
Phil first received his name in 1961. The origins of the name are unclear, but speculation suggests that it may have been indirectly named after Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
RECEPTION
The event in Punxsutawney attracted crowds of approximately 2,000 prior to 1993. However, the popularity of the film Groundhog Day brought significantly more attention to the event, with annual crowds rising to 10,000–20,000. The event has been streamed online each year since 2018. The ceremony in 2021 took place without any crowds, due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
In some cases where Phil's prognostications have been incorrect, organizations have jokingly made legal threats against the groundhog. Such tongue-in-cheek actions have been made by a prosecutor in Ohio; the Monroe County, Pennsylvania sheriff's office; and the Merrimack, New Hampshire Police Department. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals object to the event, claiming that Phil is put under stress. They suggest replacing Phil with a robotic groundhog.
A robotic groundhog should, statistically, do at least as well as Phil, who is correct less than half the time. In the 127 years since 1900, Phil has predicted an early Spring only 19 times. Empirical estimates place the groundhog's accuracy between 35% and 41%.
Holy Cow, Black Sheep & More: Animal Idioms Explained
Black Sheep
Meaning: Someone who doesn’t quite fit in or does things their own way instead of following the crowd, as in “Within this family of lawyers, he’s the black sheep who paints.”
History: The phrase dates back to at least the 18th century, originally referring to rare black sheep born into white flocks. Their wool couldn’t be dyed, making it less valuable, which gave the term a negative connotation. However, today it can be used more positively to describe someone who dares to challenge the status quo. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that the earliest recorded use of 'black sheep' is from 1640 in the writings of American minister Thomas Shepard.
Don't Look a Gift Horse In the Mouth
Meaning: Don’t question or criticize something you receive for free or as a gift, as in “We won front-row concert seats—let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth.”
History: The phrase is rooted in a centuries-old practice. When buying a horse, people would inspect its teeth to assess its age and overall health—the younger the horse, the healthier and more valuable it was. So, checking the teeth of a horse given to you would seem to question the value of the gift, implying it wasn’t good enough. The idiom itself appears in written English as early as 1546 in John Heywood's book of proverbs, where he wrote, “Where gyfts be gyuen freely, est west north or south, No man ought to loke a geuen hors in the mouth.”
Swan Song
Meaning: A farewell appearance or final act, as in “This is my swan song at the gym—I’m switching to long walks.”
History: The term dates back to ancient Greek fables and the belief that swans, typically silent, sing a beautiful mournful tune just before they die. ‘Swan song’ was used as early as in Aeschylus’s Agamemnon (458 BC) and Aesop’s fables.
Cold Turkey
Meaning: An effort to abruptly give up a habit, as in “She went cold turkey on chocolate after the holidays.”
History: The term "cold turkey" dates back to at least 1910, when Merriam-Webster notes it was used to describe someone who lost $5,000 outright in a card game. The phrase may have evolved from "talk turkey," an expression from the early 1800s meaning to speak plainly. Its association with drug addiction treatment first appeared in a 1921 Canadian newspaper, where it referred to the abrupt, unassisted withdrawal process, a term reportedly used by addicts themselves.
When Pigs Fly
Meaning: Indicates the unlikeliness of something, as in “My teenager will stop checking his phone during dinner—when pigs fly.”
History: This idiom belongs to an old family of expressions that have animals doing impossible things. The idea dates back to the Middle Ages, long before the modern wording emerged. The original version of the saying was “when pigs fly with their tails forward.” The phrase became more widely recognized in 1865, when Lewis Carroll included a variation in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, where the Duchess says, “Just about as much right as pigs have to fly.”
Holy Cow
Meaning: Used to express surprise, excitement, shock, or disbelief, as in “Holy cow, I didn’t think we’d finish in time!”
History: The phrase shows up in American print as early as 1905, in a letter to the Minneapolis Journal. It’s thought to be a minced oath, or milder substitute for stronger religious exclamations. The expression might also be tied to the idea of cows being sacred in some religions like Hinduism.
Dark Horse
Meaning: A surprising contender who succeeds or outright wins, often catching everyone off guard, as in “She was the dark horse candidate who surprised the pollsters.”
History: The phrase originally comes from horse racing slang, where it referred to a little-known horse that was difficult for bettors to predict. The first recorded use of the term was by Benjamin Disraeli in his 1831 novel The Young Duke, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Hog Wild
Meaning: Wildly enthusiastic or unrestrained, as in “The kids went hog wild at the candy store.”
History: The American expression traces back to the 1890s and alludes to the unruly, frantic behavior of hogs, especially when they are let out of their pens. The earliest recorded use of hog wild comes from 1893, when it appeared in the Galveston Daily News, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Pecking Order
Meaning: Pecking order describes a sort of social structure or hierarchy, as in “Being summer interns, they were pretty low in the department’s pecking order.”
History: As noted by Discover Magazine, the term originated in the 1920s from Norwegian scientist Thorleif Schjelderup-Ebbe’s study of domestic chickens. He observed that dominant birds literally pecked lower-ranking ones to assert their dominance. This natural behavior was later used metaphorically to describe human hierarchies and social status within groups.
Horsefeathers
Meaning: A term used to call out nonsense—similar to rubbish or balderdash, as in “Horsefeathers! Don’t believe everything you see online.”
History: Horsefeathers was part of 1920s American slang that used colorful, outlandish phrases to describe nonsense. The Comics Journal notes the expression was popularized by Billy De Beck, who used it in his Barney Google comic strip as a euphemism for poppycock or something utterly ridiculous.
