This period of the summer, when not much is happening in the political sphere, is called the silly season in English. Due to a lack of newsworthy events to report on, the media focus on trivial and frivolous matters and hoax stories, as explained in the Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable from 1898:\u00a0The Silly Season<\/a>\u00a0for daily newspapers, is when Parliament is not in session, and all sorts of \u201csilly\u201d stuff are vamped-up for padding. Also called the \u201cBig Gooseberry Season,\u201d because paragraphs are often inserted on this subject.<\/em><\/p>\n ‘Cucumber time’ is another name for this time of the year, due to cucumbers being in season during the summer months. Brewer’s Dictionary makes a connection between cucumber time\u00a0\u2013 when the gentry leaves the city and goes to the countryside to enjoy the summer\u00a0\u2013 and tailors\u2019 difficulties with finding work:\u00a0Cucumber time\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0– The dull season in the tailoring trade. The Germans call it Die saure Gurken Zeit (pickled gherkin time). Hence the expression ‘Tailors are vegetarians’, because they live on \u201ccucumber\u201d when without work, and on \u201ccabbage\u201d when in full employ.<\/em>\u00a0The term ‘cucumber’ time is used in many European languages –\u00a0komkommertijd<\/em>\u00a0in Dutch,\u00a0agurktid<\/em>\u00a0in Norwegian,\u00a0sezon og\u00f2rkowy<\/em>\u00a0in Polish,\u00a0okurkov\u00e1 sez\u00f3na<\/em>\u00a0in Czech,\u00a0hapukurgihooaeg<\/em>\u00a0in Estonian, and\u00a0uborkaszezon<\/em>\u00a0in Hungarian. Yet instead of cucumbers Swedes have the\u00a0nyhetstorka<\/em>\u00a0(news drought) while the French refer to\u00a0la morte saison<\/em>\u00a0– the dead season.<\/p>\n Luckily there are ways to avoid dull news reports and TV re-runs. Of course, you can go outside, explore, play sports, meet with friends. But if you can\u2019t imagine your life without looking at a screen, we have a perfect solution for you! We\u2019ve selected some easy to digest content from Europeana to match the summer vibes and bring you some enjoyment:<\/p>\n Are you looking for a cucumber-inspired aesthetic experience? Or maybe you aim to achieve\u00a0a complete state of perfection in the cultivation of cucumbers? Even if you don’t, this is your unique opportunity to consciously and intentionally discover cultural heritage content related to cucumbers. Enjoy it\u00a0here!<\/a><\/p>\n No need to move away from the poolside:\u00a0The Past But Not As You Know It<\/a> – includes cute animals, unusual professions and retro celebrities. Holiday snapshots<\/a> – people enjoying holidays and doing the same things as you, but in different times and places. European landscapes and landmarks<\/a>\u00a0– beautiful landscapes, better colours than on Instagram filters. No hot dog legs, \u2018follow me\u2019 hands or ice creams obstructing the view<\/p>\n Does ‘cucumber time’ exist in the meme world? We don\u2019t know, but aren\u2019t you bored with the Success Kid and Forever Alone? Get ready for the\u00a0#MusMeme<\/a>\u00a0on August 22nd and create new awesome memes using openly licensed images available on Europeana, for example,\u00a0vintage cartoons<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1. Explore\u00a0cucumbers, gherkins, pickles available on Europeana:<\/strong><\/h2>\n
2. Visit an exhibition or a gallery<\/strong><\/h2>\n
3. Create a meme<\/strong><\/h2>\n