# what do call the steam comes out of your mouth when cold?



## english kimberly

what do you call the steam that comes out of your mouth when it's cold? is it called steam? vapor?


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## ace02nc

In AE we typically call it steam.


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## Nikola

I have never heard steam or vapor in common AE. Although it does look like them. I often hear we can see our breath.


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## Aquilon

"You can see your breath" means that it's cold; I don't know that we use a substantive for the vapor itself.

On the other hand, so say that someone is "steaming" or that you could see the "steam coming out of his ears" indicates rage that is barely contained.


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## sdgraham

The WRD defines "steam" as _"water at boiling temperature diffused in the atmosphere"

_Obviously, one does not exhale anything at boiling temperature. Like Nikola, I haven't heard it applied to exhaled breath in cold air.

Note, however, that when we exhale so that our breath causes condensation on eyeglasses, for example, we call it "fogging."


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## cyberpedant

Another vote for "breath." (Eastern AE)


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## panjandrum

Despite the precise definition of steam (taken literally it is something that we cannot see) it is normal usage here (at least) to refer to kettles steaming, wet clothes steaming, sweaty people steaming, and so on. We also talk about windows or spectacles being steamed up. The stuff we can see may not, strictly speaking, be steam, but that's what we call it.

However, that stuff coming out of your mouth on a winter's morning is breath


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## AngelEyes

It seems you're looking for a specific term to call this.

It's called "breath vapor."

*AngelEyes*


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## ewie

Another vote for plain _breath_.


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## Nunty

"You can see your breath" is the only expression I've ever heard in natural speech.


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## AngelEyes

Elwintee said:


> Forgive me, AngelEyes, but as this forum is much used by learners I must point out that 'your' above should read 'you're'. It's an easy typo to make!


 

Oh, good grief. I can't believe I did that! Thanks for pointing it out. Your You're absolutely correct. 

The reason I offered my suggestion is because I think english kimberly was looking for a term. I agree in casual speech you'd just say, "I can see my breath." Or some similar sentence.

But if you want to call it "something" - then that's exactly what it is: breath vapor.

breath vapor

*AngelEyes*


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## panjandrum

AngelEyes said:


> Oh, good grief. I can't believe I did that! Thanks for pointing it out. Your You're absolutely correct.
> 
> The reason I offered my suggestion is because I think english kimberly was looking for a term. I agree in casual speech you'd just say, "I can see my breath." Or some similar sentence.
> 
> But if you want to call it "something" - then that's exactly what it is: breath vapor.
> 
> breath vapor
> 
> *AngelEyes*


Hmmm - there are no instances of _breath vapour_ in the British National Corpus (BNC); one of _breath vapor_ in the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA).  I'd stick with breath.
It's so cold you can see your breath.
There are a lot of instances of _see * breath_.
Well, when I say a lot I mean one in the BNC, 58 in COCA


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## Nunty

AngelEyes said:


> Oh, good grief. I can't believe I did that! Thanks for pointing it out. Your You're absolutely correct.
> 
> The reason I offered my suggestion is because I think english kimberly was looking for a term. I agree in casual speech you'd just say, "I can see my breath." Or some similar sentence.
> 
> But if you want to call it "something" - then that's exactly what it is: breath vapor.
> 
> breath vapor
> 
> *AngelEyes*



Well, I'm sure that if you need a name to categorize a group of photos, "breath vapor" would work. But that is not how I would answer the question in post 1 "what do you call the steam that comes out of your mouth when it's cold? is it called steam? vapor?" We just call it our breath. What we see is our breath.

Breath vapor is a coined term, but not a natural one.


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## johndot

Google recognises lots of “the vapor/vapour/steam * breath” with just the right meaning.


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## mjscott

In context I would say, "It was so cold we could see our breath."
"I could see my breath!"
"Whaddaya mean it's not cold! I'm sittin' here watching your breath, wonderin' if you've got a cigarette hidden...."


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## AngelEyes

Hmmm...

If someone asked me what was coming out of my mouth in a warm room, I'd say it's my breath.

And, likewise, I might even say it if they asked me outside in the snow.

But if someone asked me right after that, "What do you call that cloudy, white stuff that your breath is making?"

I'd say, "Well, I guess that would be breath vapor." 

But that's me. I always get really technical when asked. Sometimes when I'm not asked. 

*AngelEyes*


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## Loob

Sorry, AngelEyes, my vote would also go for "breath" (as in "I can see my breath").

I think what's going on here is that you are a creative writer


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## George French

"I can see steam coming out of your mouth" would have been said to me on cold days, long ago, by my mother.

It's simply called *steam* coming out of my/your/etc. mouth. I believe my mother! 

GF..

Note it is technically nearly impossible unless you have a tube in your mouth that is letting out steam!

PS Breath is generally very explicit (on a cold day)


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## AngelEyes

Why, thank you, Loobinski! 

_Buuuuuttttt, she says, to the background of British and Irish, and nuns-ish groans...  _

english kimberly asked:



> what do you call the steam that comes out of your mouth when it's cold? is it called steam? vapor?


 
She didn't ask us how to say it: 
_*I can see my breath.*_

She asked us if that white, cloudy stuff has a name. Heck, I'd say both her words would work. It's a white, cloudy vapor that looks like steam.

Sure, it _is_ your breath, but when you can see it, you all have to admit you can call that a vapor.

Then again, if kimberly has never heard of the word_ breath _and that's all she was asking about...I guess I'm wrong. She did specify it was cold, though, so I assumed she was being specific.

*AngelEyes*


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## ojt

I have read all of these posts and I am pretty convinced I have never called it vapor or breath, I would call it condensation. 

e.g. It's cold out here today, look at the condensation when I breath/talk.


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## ace02nc

I commonly hear "my breath is steaming" or "you can see my breath".


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## gasman

It is water vapour; why not call it that.There is always water vapour in exhaled breath, but in the cold it condenses.


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## Loob

gasman said:


> It is water vapour; why not call it that.There is always water vapour in exhaled breath, but in the cold it condenses.


Because we don't call it that: we say "I can/could see my breath".


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## MarcB

It seams the general consensus is breath, the most widely used expression. If the poster wants to know if other expressions can be used then I would say yes with the warning that they are not universally used.


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## adamkade

I have busy writing and have often find myself coming to this site for the right word to use. Breath vapour is perfect, thanks very much.


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## Shoey666

We always used to call it "dragon's breath", but like most things that seems to have been perverted and corrupted to a sexual connotation nowadays!


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## Truffula

Here are a few references:  These first two are explanations of the phenomenon itself, so you can see how they talk about it:

Visible Breath

Why Can We See Our Breath on a Cold Winter Day? | The Classroom | Synonym

I've found a couple citations of this being called "breath's mist" here (in a very literary register, that would not be used in ordinary discourse)

"Her name is still lost, yet I recall us huddled in the bed we shared as children, our *breath's mist* visible in the cold moonlight that we opened the shutters"  from Snakewood by Adrian Selby
"...become the *breath's mist* on the mirror" from In The Realm of the Senses: A Materialist Theory of Seeing and Feeling by Stuart Walton


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## Michelleyolo

AngelEyes said:


> It seems your looking for a specific term to call this.
> 
> It's called "breath vapor."
> 
> *AngelEyes*


You're correct...never mind what those... who disagree, stated.
Normally, we can't see our breath. But when the environment we're in is cold, we can then see our breath via vapor. Therefore, what we see are "breath vapor--diffused matter (as smoke or fog), or "vapor of breath"!


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## velisarius

Michelleyolo said:


> You're correct...never mind what those... who disagree, stated.
> Normally, we can't see our breath. But when the environment we're in is cold, we can then see our breath via vapors. Therefore, what we see are "breath vapors--diffused matter (as smoke or fog), or "vapors of breath"!



Just excuse me for a moment while I recline on a couch with the vapors.

Like Loob, I "see my breath". I've never come across those expressions, Michelleyolo. Where have you seen/ heard them? 

(By the way, welcome to the forum.)


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## Loob

I echo velisarius's question:


velisarius said:


> I've never come across those expressions, Michelleyolo. Where have you seen/ heard them?


I find "breath vapor--diffused matter" particularly comical.


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## ewie

_Breath vapour_ is what we would call it ... if we called it that


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## JulianStuart

Michelleyolo said:


> You're correct...never mind what those... who disagree, stated.
> Normally, we can't see our breath. But when the environment we're in is cold, we can then see our breath via vapor. Therefore, what we see are "breath vapor--diffused matter (as smoke or fog), or "vapor of breath"!


By the time it has condensed it is no longer vapour (or, technically, steam).  I'm with the "I can see my breath" crowd.  When we see a kettle boiling the siuff coming out of the spout tells us that there was steam coming out but it has condensed into mist, so we can now see it


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## Michelleyolo

Loob said:


> I echo velisarius's question:
> I find "breath vapor--diffused matter" particularly comical.


Tell me, how are you able to see your breath when you do? In form is it in? Otherwise you can't see it!


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## Michelleyolo

velisarius said:


> Just excuse me for a moment while I recline on a couch with the vapors.
> Like Loob, I "see my breath". I've never come across those expressions, Michelleyolo. Where have you seen/ heard them?
> 
> 
> 
> (By the way, welcome to the forum.)



Tell me, how are you able to see your breath when you do? In what form is it in? Otherwise you can't see it!


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## Michelleyolo

JulianStuart said:


> By the time it has condensed it is no longer vapour (or, technically, steam).  I'm with the "I can see my breath" crowd.  When we see a kettle boiling the siuff coming out of the spout tells us that there was steam coming out but it has condensed into mist, so we can now see it


I can accept "mist" as well! "Breath's mist" works for me!


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## sdgraham

Michelleyolo said:


> I can accept "mist" as well! "Breath's mist" works for me!


< --- > Both seem bizarre to my American English ear.


< Off-topic comment removed.  Cagey, moderator >


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## velisarius

The thing is that we aren't looking for a suitable new phrase to describe "visible breath". I think the question is all about: what is this stuff normally called in English? Scientists may have special terms, and I'd be interested to hear them, but ordinary people, native speakers of English, write things like this:
Seeing Your Breath in the Cold Air


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## bennymix

I'd call it 'vapor'.   So did Dickens and here's one other:

* A Thousand Gems from Dickens: Comprising a Careful Selection of His Best ...*
p. 363
the team of oxen crouching down mournfully in the mud and breathing forth such clouds of vapor from their mouths and nostrils....   _American Notes_ ch 13 
=================

*2030 / Five From The Bay - Page 1 - Google Books Result*

Michael Balaguera - 2011 - ‎Fiction

 The _vapor from their mouths_ looks like they are smoking cigarettes. It's very cold for a spring day but the blue sunny skies help compensate for the biting winds ...


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## velisarius

That sounds about right: "Look at the vapour coming out of my mouth"/"My breath is coming out like steam". I haven't encountered anyone who called it "breath vapour" though.


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## Michelleyolo

sdgraham said:


> < --- > Both seem bizarre to my American English ear.


Are you implying that I've made an error in my statement and/or grammar?


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## sdgraham

Michelleyolo said:


> Are you implying that I've made an error in my statement and/or grammar?



There's no implication. The message, as clearly stated, is that I find your statement weird, i.e. extremely unnatural, in American English.

As we have seen here, many statements can be grammatically correct, but completely unnatural.


< Topic drift removed.  Cagey, moderator >


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## natkretep

I'm surprised there hasn't been more support for ojt (post 20). That's what I would say: condensation. I'd never heard of vapour, steam or mist to refer to it until now.


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## Michelleyolo

sdgraham said:


> There's no implication. The message, as clearly stated, is that I find your statement weird, i.e. extremely unnatural, in American English.
> 
> As we have seen here, many statements can be grammatically correct, but completely unnatural.
> 
> 
> < Topic drift removed.  Cagey, moderator >


I understand...


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## bennymix

Welcome!
Breath takes the form of vapor.   Hence simply,  "You could see the vapor from his mouth when he stood outside my door on that cold winter day."

Similarly, 'vapor trails' are what's seen in the sky after certain types of jets pass by, very high up.



Michelleyolo said:


> Tell me, how are you able to see your breath when you do? In form is it in? Otherwise you can't see it!


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## JulianStuart

Well, the dictionaries include the condensed vapour within the term vapour.  My comments above were based only on the scientific usage of vapour (an invisible gas - substances, such as water, have solid, liquid and vapour phases)  but the lay use includes the moist/visible particles of condensed water seen on cold days


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## eraemus D.

From what I’ve read here I think “it’s so cold my breath have turned into a *frozen vapor*” would work.
Also “dragon’s breath”, awesome figure of speech, but... corrupted into what? Makes me somewhat worried to use it.


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## RM1(SS)

natkretep said:


> I'm surprised there hasn't been more support for ojt (post 20). That's what I would say: condensation. I'd never heard of vapour, steam or mist to refer to it until now.


I'm with the "I can see my breath" crowd, but condensation is what I call the mist itself.


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## Phoebe1200

Is "My breath is condensing" natural?


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## Aquilon

I would say no.  I don't recall ever having heard that in American English.


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## Phoebe1200

Aquilon said:


> I would say no.  I don't recall ever having heard that in American English.


Thank you.


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## sdgraham

Phoebe1200 said:


> Is "My breath is condensing" natural?


It's absolutely correct, but most people (except, perhaps, technical nerds) don't say it that way in AE.
[cross-posted]


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## Phoebe1200

sdgraham said:


> It's absolutely correct, but most people (except, perhaps, technical nerds) don't say it that way in AE.
> [cross-posted]


Thank you, sdg


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## JulianStuart

sdgraham said:


> It's absolutely correct, but most people (except, perhaps, technical nerds) don't say it that way in AE.
> [cross-posted]


And the nerds would even say - the water vapour in my breath is condensing (not the other gases)


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## Uncle Jack

JulianStuart said:


> And the nerds would even say - the water vapour in my breath is condensing (not the other gases)


Nah, we wouldn't say 'vapour'. What other form of water would condense?


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## sdgraham

Uncle Jack said:


> Nah, we wouldn't say 'vapour'. What other form of water would condense?


Water *vapor*.


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## JulianStuart

Uncle Jack said:


> Nah, we wouldn't say 'vapour'. What other form of water would condense?


We are being specific to distinguish it from the oxygen vapour and nitrogen vapour because we assume our listener doesn’t know _they_ won’t condense


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## witchqueen

I'm surprised no one has said *fog.
*
I'm also in the "I can see my breath" boat, but if I had to put a specific name to the stuff, I would say *fog *or perhaps *foggy breath*--assuming I didn't want to sound all smart and scientifically minded and say* water vapor*.


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## sdgraham

witchqueen said:


> I'm surprised no one has said *fog.
> *
> I'm also in the "I can see my breath" boat, but if I had to put a specific name to the stuff, I would say *fog *or perhaps *foggy breath*--assuming I didn't want to sound all smart and scientifically minded and say* water vapor*.


I've never heard "fogging breath," but "fogging a window" is familiar among those who avoid technical terms.


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