Re: Clockwise without clocks

On Thursday 31 March 2005 22:03 +0100, Ray Brown wrote:

 > The trouble with withershins/wid(d)ershins (apart from
 > dialect variation) is that it is often used loosely to
 > mean 'in the wrong way, in a contrary direction', which
 > in fact was the original meaning of the word (from Low
 > German _weddersins_). Cf. Old English _wither_ "against"/
 >  and L.G. _sind_ "direction", O.E. síth (<-- *sinT)
 > "journey").

According to the DUDEN, "Widersinn" survived. It means
basically the same as "Unsinn", and more specifically
"against the logic" -> in the wrong way.

 > It is surprising how unfamiliar many youngsters are with
 > analog clock movements and indeed cannot tell the time
 > from such clocks

For me, in fact, it's just the other way round. My parents
insisted that I, as well as my brother and my sister learn
to read an analog clock first. I still have an analog watch
and get by with it nicely, my brother and sister as well.
When giving the time, meanwhile *anyone* in class gives the
analog time even though the asked person has a digital
watch. I remember in primary school, especially many of the
boys in class were always quarrelling whether their
(digital) clock is right to the second or not. If someone
asked me then what the time is, I'd answer e.g. "Just half
past ten ago" and would hear from another corner of the
classroom "No, he's wrong, it's nine-thirty-two".

 > Exactly - quite often, in fact, I find I need to explain
 > what clockwise means   :)

If nobody can read an analog clock anymore, it's not a
wonder.

 > Yep - and if you're uncertain, all you have to do is to
 > take a coin from your pocket and roll it slowing along
 > your desktop, table-top or whatever

I was told that all those claims like "in Australia, water
in toilets turns the other way round" are nonsense. But
then, I may have misunderstood that, because corriolis
power was mentioned in one breath with that. And in fact,
corriolis powers do not exist.

 > Very true - which is why the Latinate adjectives
 > 'dextrorse' and 'sinistrorse' are not really
 > satisfactory, as they have had opposite meanings at
 > different times.

*That's* ironic.



On Friday 01 April 2005 02:19 +0100, Doug Dee wrote:

 > Ok, that's perfectly clear now.
 > Of course, it assumes the language in question has words
 > for "right" and "left."
 > Are those universal?  I seem to recall reading that some
 > cultures did not distinguish right & left.

IIRC the Chinese as well as other cultures have N/E/S/W
instead. There are indeed people who know where the
absolute directions are most of the time. I couldn't tell.

Carsten

--
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15-A8-58-1-3-9-9 ena Curan Tertanyan.
» http://www.beckerscarsten.de/?conlang=ayeri

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