Perfect storm

According to the Oxford English Dictionary , the expression “perfect storm” is defined as an extremely fierce storm resulting from the rare addition of several adverse meteorological factors, due to which the total destructive effect increases significantly ^[1] .

In the future, this phraseology began to be widely used in a metaphorical sense - to describe various critical and crisis situations in the economy, politics, international relations and other spheres ^{[1] [2]} .

Early use

The phrase perfect storm ("perfect storm") is found in English sources for a long time. So in the book “Turkish History: Understanding the Origin of this People” ( English The Turkish history: comprehending the origin of that nation ) by the English historian Richard Nolles written in 1601 and published two years later, there is such a phrase:

All this night the wind intensified and in the morning turned into a perfect storm ...

Original text

All this Night the Wind to encreas'd, that in the Morning it was grown to a perfect Storm ...

According to the Oxford English Dictionary , a poet named Stogdon wrote in his verses in 1718 ^[1] :

There was a rushing strong wind, a perfect storm, and a storm before the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Original text

There was a rushing mighty wind, a perfect storm, and tempest before the descent of the Holy Ghost

In 1858, in the Chicago Tribune, the phrase "perfect storm" was used in a figurative sense ^[1] :

We all remember the perfect storm of applause that greeted the mayor's announcement.

Original text

We all remember the perfect storm of applause which greeted the Mayor's announcement.

In 1936, the newspaper The Port Arthur News , published in the town of Port Arthur , Texas , published a note in which for the first time “perfect storm” was defined as a combination of adverse meteorological factors ^[1] :

The weather bureau describes the cataclysm as "the perfect storm." Seven factors were involved in the chain of circumstances that led to the flood.

Original text

The weather bureau describes the disturbance as 'the perfect storm' of its type. Seven factors were involved in the chain of circumstances that led to the flood

Popularizing Collocations

Despite the fact that the phrase perfect storm was occasionally used as a definition of a fierce storm for a rather long time, this expression was widely used only in the 90s of the XX century. American writer and journalist Sebastian Junger He planned to write a book about the powerful storm of 1991 , which hit the East Coast of the USA and Atlantic Canada from October 28 to November 2 (for which it was originally called the " Halloween Storm of 1991"). Gathering material, Junger met with Bob Keyes who served as deputy director of the US National Meteorological Service in Boston . Describing the reasons that led to the powerful storm, Case used the definition of “ideal situation” ( English perfect situation ) to explain the rare addition of three factors:

• warm air flow from low pressure
• counter flow of cold and dry air from the high pressure area
• tropical moisture brought by Hurricane Grace

Junger used the adjective “perfect” from the phrase used by Case and combined it with the word “storm”. The obtained neologism, Junger used Russian as the name of his book written in the genre of literary journalism . The work was published in 1997 and contributed to the popularization of the phrase "perfect storm." In 2000, based on the book, a high-budget Hollywood film was shot with a number of star actors such as George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg . The painting, which was also called "The Perfect Storm ", was a great success both in the USA and in the world box office; this led to the widespread use of the term itself.

In Russian

In Russian, this phraseological unit appeared due to the release of the film, which in Russian box office was translated as “The Perfect Storm”. According to the translator and linguist Pavel Palazhchenko , the translation of the phrase perfect storm as “perfect storm” is correct ^[2] . Other options for translating English phraseology perfect storm when used in a metaphorical sense may be, depending on the context, other phrases more established in the Russian language, for example, “it smells like kerosene”, “a dangerous hurricane”, “explosive situation” ^[2] , "The ninth shaft " ^[3] . In Russian, this expression became widespread in connection with the beginning of the global economic crisis of 2008 . In particular, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2009 compared crisis phenomena in the world economy with an “ideal storm” ^[4] :

There is a true concept - “perfect storm”, when the natural elements that occur are converging at one point and multiply their destructive power. The current crisis is just like such an ideal storm.

Since that time, this expression has been actively used by many different media in relation to various events. There is also an opinion that the expression “perfect storm”, applied on any occasion, has already become a well-worn, hackneyed phrase ^[5] ; in particular, Russian expert in the field of economics Mikhail Khazin , criticizing the American economist Nuriel Rubini , also went through the term “perfect storm”:

A classic example is a certain Rubini who regularly issues amazing pearls about the state of the world economy (completely unsurprising, because, judging by what he says, he has no model of the crisis), which, however, do not affect the reputation of this very person. "guru". It is enough to mention only the term “perfect storm”, which, like parrots, is repeated by his followers, although it makes no sense ^[6] .

• Initially, the 1991 storm , which raged on the Atlantic coast of the USA and Canada from October 29 to November 2, was called "Halloween storm of 1991" ( English Halloween Nor'easter of 1991 ). However, then, after the release of the book in 1997 and the film 2000, which had the title “The Perfect Storm”, the very storm of 1991 also began to be called “The Perfect Storm”.
• An “ideal storm” is defined as an extremely fierce storm, rare in its power and destructiveness. However, the 1991 storm itself was not such: American meteorologists noted that the storm, while really very strong, was not unique in its strength or destructiveness, and more powerful storms occurred in US history ^[7] .
• Linguists at Lake Superior University , annually since 1976, composing the “List of words that need to be removed from the English language for their excessively frequent or incorrect use or complete meaninglessness”, the phrase “ideal storm” ^{[8] [9]} , which was put in the first place in the 2007 ranking, In connection with the financial crisis that broke out in 2007, it began to be widely, and often out of place, used to analyze the current situation and assess development prospects.

• Ninth shaft
• Killer waves

• Perfect storm . Oxford English Dictionary . Date of treatment February 14, 2015.
• Palazhchenko, Pavel . Quote in dictionaries and in translation (neopr.) . The site of Pavel Palazhchenko (October 3, 2012). Date of treatment February 14, 2015.