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Julia, why are you smiling at a puddle?
I am enjoying the smell after the rain.
Wet shoes have never made me this happy.
Not your shoes, Martin, the earth.
Welcome to Curious English from Your EnglishToolbox.
I am Martin, and I am here with Julia.
Today, a small mystery.
Why can rain smell so good?
You will also learn three expressions fordescribing what happens around you.
Before we explain, make a prediction.
Does that familiar smell come only from the wateror from what the rain touches?
What the rain touches is important.
Think of a garden after several warm days withoutrain.
The first shower arrives, and suddenly, there is arich, earthy smell.
Earthy means like earth or soil, not like thewhole planet.
So an earthy smell is the sort of smell I noticebeside a damp garden path.
Exactly. And the distinctive smell after rain isoften called petrichor.
You do not need that scientific word for everydayconversation.
An earthy smell is already a useful description.
Here is one part of the explanation.
Researchers at MIT filmed raindrops hitting poroussurfaces, which have tiny spaces in them.
The drops could trap little air bubbles againstthe surface.
Those bubbles rose and burst, sending much smallerdroplets into the air.
A little like bubbles popping in a fizzy drink?
That is a helpful picture of the movement.
The researchers suggested this could help explainhow materials that produce the smell travel from
the ground into the air.
It is one mechanism, not a complete explanation ofevery smell after rain.
And our second expression is a dry spell.
A dry spell is a period with little or no rain.
The garden needed water after a long, dry spell.
Here, spell means a period of time, not magicalwords.
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So the garden did not need a wizard, just somewater.
Exactly.
Our third expression is release into the air.
It means let something out so it can enter the airaround us.
Crushing a mint leaf can release its scent intothe air.
Notice the useful pattern.
Release something into something.
Let us put the three together in a tiny scene.
After a dry spell, rain reaches the garden.
You notice an earthy smell as scented material isreleased into the air.
Now it is your turn.
The fields have had almost no rain for threeweeks.
What kind of spell have they had?
A dry spell.
You smell damp soil beside the path.
What adjective describes that smell?
Earthy.
And if a flower lets its scent out around you, itreleases its scent into the...
Air.
Finish one sentence of your own.
After a dry spell, I notice...
Find the three expressions and their examples onour episode page.
The link is in the description with sevenlistening speeds to choose from.
Keep your English curious.
And give your wet shoes a little space.