Indian summer

[Dennis R. Preston]

"Indian Summer" was the same in Polish as in Russian (Babie Lato), but that
seems to have given way to Zloty Jesien ("Golden Fall").

dInIs

>        Hi,
>
>        Does anybody know the etymology of the expression "Indian summer,"
>and whether it is used in Britain.
>        Relevant questions: when was it used for the first time and by
>whom, if it can be traced?
>        There is a song by Joe Dassin "L'ete indien," sorry for lack of
>accents, does it mean, that the French have the same expression, or JD
>just borrowed it? (Maybe the song is about America).
>
>                                                Regards,
>                                                        Alexey
>
>P.S. I would also be interested in parallel expressions in other
>languages.
>The russians have "bab'e leto," something like "the summer of an old
>woman" ( "old woman" - baba - cam be also interpreted as "peasant woman",
>or simply a female (colloquial use).

Dennis R. Preston
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736