# silly season

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/silly-season
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A period, usually during the summertime, when news media tend to place increased emphasis on reporting light-hearted, offbeat, or bizarre stories.

## Examples

- The news is full of strange stories during the silly season.
- The silly season brings many funny videos to the evening news.
- Reporters enjoy the silly season because they can write about light topics.
- Journalists often struggle to find serious topics during the silly season, so they report on odd animal sightings instead.
- Local newspapers usually print stories about giant vegetables or haunted houses once the silly season begins in August.
- You know it is the silly season when every website starts posting lists of the world's most talented pets.
- Radio hosts often interview people with bizarre hobbies to fill airtime while the government is on holiday during the silly season.
- As political activity wanes during the summer months, the media inevitably descends into the silly season, prioritizing trivial human-interest pieces over substantive policy debates.

## Origin

Possibly from an article in the 13 July 1861 edition of the London weekly newspaper The Saturday Review (see quotation). (disputed)

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