As legend goes, the Inuit people have 100 different words for “snow.” By now, so should Mainers, though 99 of them are probably unsuitable for publication.

The Inuit legend isn’t quite accurate, though. Inuits have about the same amount of snow words as English-speakers, according to language scholars, who attribute the lexicographical myth to academic fascination with wondering how people could live in such an unforgiving, harsh environment.

Hmm. It seems Mainers and Inuits have much more in common than linguistics.

If there were 100 Inuit words for snow, Mainers could use a unique phrase for about every inch that’s fallen this winter. This is a far, snowy cry from last year, when winter never seemed to arrive.

A dispatch from The Associated Press, dated Feb. 12, 2007, quoted several snow experts bemoaning the lack of white stuff. Portland, it was reported, had only received 15.7 inches, which was making Peter Geiger, the oft-quoted Farmer’s Almanac editor, scramble to explain his blustery forecast.

His predictions for winter 2007 had gone south that January, when Maine temperatures had registered an almost-Floridian 67 degrees. This year, Geiger says, Maine is far from record snowfall, because the oppressive accumulations carried by whopping Nor’ Easters haven’t materialized.

So it could be worse, it seems. This sentiment provides little comfort, though, when preparing to shovel the steps, driveway and roof for the fifth time in a week.

Thinking of new, colorful, four-letter words for snow feels much better.