peasouper
Dense yellow haze
A peasouper is a dense yellowish fog, especially the thick smogs that plagued London through the mid-20th century, when coal smoke mixed with moisture to create visibility-killing haze the color of pea soup.
The term is mostly historical now, since clean air legislation largely eliminated such fogs: My grandfather remembered peasoupers so thick you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
Sunlight-activated urban pollution
- LondonEngland's capital city
- coalCombustible sedimentary rock
- fogLow-lying cloud cover
- industrialOf factories and production
chimneys · soot · gaslight · Thames · Dickens · Sherlock Holmes · Jack the Ripper · Whitechapel
Disturbingly strange
- mysteriousBeyond easy comprehension
- shadowyObscured by darkness
- obscuredMade hard to perceive
- lurkingConcealed and watchful
gaslight · silhouettes · muffled · disembodied · spectral · noir · sinister · Jack the Ripper
Sunlight-activated urban pollution
- sulfur dioxideSO₂ gas compound
- particulatesMinute airborne solids or droplets
- emissionsSubstances released into air
- sootCarbon from incomplete burning
respiratory · asthma · air quality · inversion · industrial · visibility · factories · Clean Air Act
Having great depth
- impenetrableImpossible to pass through
- blanketSoft bed covering
- murkyDark and unclear
- opaqueImpassable to light
soupy · heavy · visibility · groping · disorientation · muffled · swirling · rolling
smog
Sunlight-activated urban pollution
industrial · chimneys · soot · gaslight · Thames · Dickens · Sherlock Holmes · Jack the Ripper · Whitechapel · East End
eerie
Disturbingly strange
- mysteriousBeyond easy comprehension
- shadowyObscured by darkness
- obscuredMade hard to perceive
lurking · gaslight · silhouettes · muffled · disembodied · spectral · noir · sinister · Jack the Ripper · gothic
smog
Sunlight-activated urban pollution
- sulfur dioxideSO₂ gas compound
- particulatesMinute airborne solids or droplets
- emissionsSubstances released into air
soot · respiratory · asthma · air quality · inversion · industrial · visibility · factories · Clean Air Act · choking
thick
Having great depth
- impenetrableImpossible to pass through
- blanketSoft bed covering
- murkyDark and unclear
opaque · soupy · heavy · visibility · groping · disorientation · muffled · swirling · rolling · blinding
peasoupercrystal clear
Entirely unambiguous, perfectly understood
clear · visibility · bright day · clear skies · cloudless
peasouperfresh air
Unenclosed outdoor atmosphere
clean air · pure air · crisp air · mountain air · sea breeze