# Where does the term "shoulder season" come from?



## spike60 (Mar 29, 2014)

OK, I've been here for 9 years and I suppose I should know this, but how did the term "shoulder season" originate? 

I get WHEN it is; in the early and late parts of the heating season when temps are not quite as cold and just evening fires are necessary as opposed to round the clock burning. 

I also get WHAT it is; the smaller rounds, chunks, and not as desireable species that are good for those quick fires and allow you to hold off on using your best wood until the real cold arrives. 

But I don't get the "shoulder" part. No one uses that term around here. We just say "early season" or "late season", or Fall or Spring. 

Fill me in guys.


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## CTYank (Mar 30, 2014)

Yup, like Del says, from a common Gaussian statistical distribution. So, you don't have too many mathematicians in Ashokan, not a problem.  Most of them can't diagnose/fix 2-strokes either.


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## windthrown (Mar 30, 2014)

Um, in a word, no...

The term shoulder season was coined in the 60s to refer to the travel season between peak and off-peak seasons, especially spring and fall, when fares tended to be relatively low. It was later adopted to refer to the spring and fall in pasture management, the lighter heating season, and other spring/fall terms.


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## spike60 (Mar 30, 2014)

CTYank said:


> Yup, like Del says, from a common Gaussian statistical distribution. So, you don't have too many mathematicians in Ashokan, not a problem.  Most of them can't diagnose/fix 2-strokes either.




Thanks for the explanation guys; never would have guessed that. 

I did get an A in calculus in college BTW, but I don't think the professor had a wood stove.


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## olyman (Mar 30, 2014)

in older times,,women had a shawl or other light wrap they would put over their shoulders when it was a mite cooler out,,or even in the house if it wasn't warm..a "shoulder" covering..hence the word shoulder season...sheesh..


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## blacklocst (Mar 30, 2014)

O.K. my theory is that it refers to body parts, in the fall or shoulder, in winter or head and spring the other shoulder. Thats my theory and I'm sticking to it.


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## BillNole (Mar 30, 2014)

Nearly every activity seems to have it's own unique lingo that serves little purpose other than to distinguish between those in the know and those that don't know... 

It just sounds cooler than saying Spring or Fall.


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## spike60 (Mar 30, 2014)

You guys aren't exactly narrowing this down to one agreed upon definition, so I'll have to come up with my own. 

When cleaning up 3"-5" pole wood on my property I usually leave it in long lengths and carry it to my wood shed.............you guessed it............on my SHOULDER.


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## gumneck (Mar 30, 2014)

You crazy guys..... You're all wrong with your fancy mathematicals and other hard words to spell.

Shoulder season is a dual purpose term that has been used by a certain breed of individuals to let them know it's time to rip the sleeves off their shirts to expose the shoulders (for example Larry the cable guy) and has also been used by those sporting a "MULLET" to identify the time of year to get the rear locks trimmed back to the shoulder region.

Pow!


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## zogger (Mar 30, 2014)

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shoulder_season


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## johnnylabguy (Mar 30, 2014)

zogger said:


> http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shoulder_season


 
But that's wiktionary zogger! That could just be two people's opinions, the poster and the moderator. I almost edited and added gumnecks definition as well. lol. Actually the travel definition works as well as the firewood one too. I've never thought about it much because it makes sense to me. The shoulder of a road transitions from hard to soft like the weather of winter into spring. I just wish we'd yank the steering wheel into the ditch already!


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## zogger (Mar 31, 2014)

johnnylabguy said:


> But that's wiktionary zogger! That could just be two people's opinions, the poster and the moderator. I almost edited and added gumnecks definition as well. lol. Actually the travel definition works as well as the firewood one too. I've never thought about it much because it makes sense to me. The shoulder of a road transitions from hard to soft like the weather of winter into spring. I just wish we'd yank the steering wheel into the ditch already!



I would think because it is legit and languages evolve, to go ahead and add the firewood definition to it.


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## mainewoods (Mar 31, 2014)

Shoulder season is a time interval between the peak, and the off peak of a season. In this case the wood burning season. Still never heard of it before joining AS. We always called it" takin' the chill off" season.


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## flotek (Mar 31, 2014)

olyman said:


> in older times,,women had a shawl or other light wrap they would put over their shoulders when it was a mite cooler out,,or even in the house if it wasn't warm..a "shoulder" covering..hence the word shoulder season...sheesh..



I'd have to agree with this explanation . It makes the most sense and describes both fall and spring and shawls and afghans were very common up to about 50 years ago in mild temperatures


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## Dalmatian90 (Mar 31, 2014)

"Shoulder," in addition to the body part, also refers to a sloped area usually abutting something else -- for example, the chimney below has a double shoulder:







Make a graph showing, oh, BTU needs by week from July to July, it'll be flat in summer, ramps up during "shoulder season" as I burn a little bit more each week until you're burning about the same...in my case about Dec 15th-Mar15th. Then it ramps down for another shoulder season until about June 1st when it remains flat at nothing till next October 1st.


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## philoshop (Apr 1, 2014)

Isn't anybody gonna start a poll on this? Could be really helpful.


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## olyman (Apr 1, 2014)

flotek said:


> I'd have to agree with this explanation . It makes the most sense and describes both fall and spring and shawls and afghans were very common up to about 50 years ago in mild temperatures


 ive seen women wearing them yet to this day,,and not all older gals...


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## spike60 (Apr 1, 2014)

Fellas, I'm sure glad I asked this question.


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## mainewoods (Apr 1, 2014)

So are we. Google had to shut down it's search engine because of all the traffic.


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## nk14zp (Apr 1, 2014)

Should I use the same oil in my saw in shoulder season?


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## Rookie1 (Apr 1, 2014)

I dont care what it means, I have never said it and will never call it shoulder season. Ill stick with fall and spring.


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## johnnylabguy (Apr 1, 2014)

Dalmatian90 said:


> "Shoulder," in addition to the body part, also refers to a sloped area usually abutting something else -- for example, the chimney below has a double shoulder:


That chimney looks cold. It should put a shawl on it's shoulders and light a fire of soft maple and poplar.


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## cat-face timber (Apr 5, 2014)

You guys just do not get it..
What shoulder season means is, when you can carry your nights wood in your arms.

Or when we take our yearly bath and we need somebody to dry our shoulders.


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