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Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left” and “right?”

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Re: Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left” and “right?”

#221

Post by dotancohen »

leipert wrote: post #181
knifie_spoonie wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the shifting pattern is exactly the same.

Sibling comment mentions indicators and wipers being switched. Anecdote 1) In NZ I saw a car in the middle of a busy roundabout, wipers on, passengers visibly confused and crying. Anecdote 2) A kayak guide also mentioned, that if you see someone entering a roundabout, windshield wiping, on a sunny day, you just wait and let them do their thing. Anecdote 3) After a month in NZ I came back to Germany and actually muscl…

As a speaker of a Right-To-Left language, I see this all the time in software. Some software change the UI direction when switching to Hebrew, some don't. And culturally, it seems that Arabic users _do_ prefer the UI to be switched, but Hebrew users do not.

Re: Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left” and “right?”

#222

Post by dotancohen »

omegabravo wrote: post #196
gav wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're giving directions to somebody driving, like when reversing into a tricky spot, you can tell them to "turn driver" or "turn passenger" so there's no ambiguity.

I've heard the term "left hand down", aka turn left but much more explicit.

Why not simply "counterclockwise"?

Re: Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left” and “right?”

#223

Post by dotancohen »

danielvf wrote: post #126
abhibeckert wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At the other extreme you have the medical profession where the first thing you learn in medical school is that left/right always refer to the patient's perspective In (musical) theatre we do it the other way around. The we call it "stage left" and "stage right" or "SL and SR" since we use abbreviations everywhere in our notes. It's always from the "stage manager's perspective" which is traditionally (but not always…

For stage directions there's also "House Left" and "House Right", which are from the perspective of the audience.

I've heard it referred to as "Audience Left" and "Audience Right", though I'm not in the industry.

Re: Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left” and “right?”

#224

Post by dotancohen »

azepoi wrote: post #142
antognini wrote: post #89

It's interesting to compare how different professions handle the ambiguity in left/right. In the maritime world they went with an approach at one extreme, where they just use two completely separate words, "port" and "starboard." (Though that's far from the only case where there's a special word for something on a boat.) At the other extreme you have the medical profession where the first thing you learn in medical s…

In french theatre has specific words for left and right. Côté cour et Côté jardin. Courtside and garden side. In geography left and right banks of a river are always in the direction of the flow

> In geography left and right banks of a river are always in the direction of the flow

Isn't there some river where the flow goes either way depending on tide? I'm thinking it might be in Alaska, but there might be more than one.

Re: Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left” and “right?”

#225

Post by tudorw »

walthamstow wrote: post #207
petersellers wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also pretty cool that a ton of sailing vocabulary has made its way into common English vernacular. I guess with the UK being the most powerful country in the world at one time (and projecting their power via their Navy) it's not too surprising.

What are some examples? I am English but I know nothing about the maritime world, so I likely know the words as slang/vernacular terms but not what they mean on a ship.

bow, boom, tack, hitch, tiller, helm, etc :)

Re: Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left” and “right?”

#226

Post by jojobas »

tzs wrote: post #109
antognini wrote: post #89

It's interesting to compare how different professions handle the ambiguity in left/right. In the maritime world they went with an approach at one extreme, where they just use two completely separate words, "port" and "starboard." (Though that's far from the only case where there's a special word for something on a boat.) At the other extreme you have the medical profession where the first thing you learn in medical s…

There's also the approach taken in some Australian native languages, e.g. [1], where they use absolute directions instead of relative directions, so they would call what we call the port side of a boat the north side if the boat was heading east, and call it the west side if the boat was heading north. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuuk_Thaayorre_language

Surely they don't have built-in compasses, so what would they do in an unfamiliar location on an overcast day?

Re: Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left” and “right?”

#227

Post by OJFord »

walthamstow wrote: post #207
petersellers wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also pretty cool that a ton of sailing vocabulary has made its way into common English vernacular. I guess with the UK being the most powerful country in the world at one time (and projecting their power via their Navy) it's not too surprising.

What are some examples? I am English but I know nothing about the maritime world, so I likely know the words as slang/vernacular terms but not what they mean on a ship.

To rig something up, to go overboard, to leave something in your wake.

Re: Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left” and “right?”

#229

Post by hutzlibu »

dotancohen wrote: post #224
azepoi wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In french theatre has specific words for left and right. Côté cour et Côté jardin. Courtside and garden side. In geography left and right banks of a river are always in the direction of the flow

> In geography left and right banks of a river are always in the direction of the flow Isn't there some river where the flow goes either way depending on tide? I'm thinking it might be in Alaska, but there might be more than one.

There are surely more than one, but this happens only close to the sea and the general flow of the river is still into the sea.

Re: Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left” and “right?”

#230

Post by Zironic »

bergie wrote: post #183
chewzerita wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also a convenient way to remember right of way while on the water is to use the port/starboard lights of the approaching boat. If you see green (their starboard side) that means you have the right of way, and red means they have the right of way. Just like traffic lights :)

That only applies between power boats. Between sailboats the direction of wind is what determines the right of way. And of course power boats must give way to sailing vessels.

The rule of thumb I go for with boats is that the vessel with worse steering has right of way. For instance a freighter has right of way over a sailing boat regardless of direction or wind because the freighter isn't going to be able to change course in any appreciable amount of time.
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