Image shows the glow of fireflies dotting dark woods. Text reads, Fireflies ‘autographing’ the sky + more similes. New in September 2025 Wordnerdery. For me, September is always a little bittersweet. While I appreciate spectacular fall leaves, summer is my season, and saying goodbye to it is hard.

Among the joys of the season? Spotting fireflies at dusk on a warm summer evening. These days, this doesn’t happen enough, but I had a chance to do this at my sister-in-law’s this summer. It’s magical.

Science writers aren’t immune to the magic of fireflies, and have striking ways of describing their “bioluminescent wonder.” Look at this:

“The most well-known [species of fireflies] come out during the evening or night to inscribe bursts of light into the air like species-specific autographs,” says science writer Joshua Sokol in BioGraphic.

That prompted me to take another look at similes, which help readers understand new and different concepts by comparing them using “like” or “as.” Read more similes related to the use of AI, an unexplained sound, the size of a whale, the speed of space junk and more in the September issue of my newsletter, Wordnerdery.

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