Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

oceanservice.noaa.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

531–540 of 636 posts

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

#531

Post by morcheeba »

ethbr0 wrote: post #453
TeMPOraL wrote: post #448

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose it has to do with how many frames of reference you're juggling in a task/profession. With boats, others mentioned that wind provides its own frame, and there are separate words still for "left" and "right" in that frame. Then there's space, where it gets even more fun, as the relevant frames - the ship, the orbit (or the "centre of gravity" of everything pulling on you) - are completely independent. That is…

> With boats, others mentioned that wind provides its own frame, and there are separate words still for "left" and "right" in that frame. There's windward (towards/upwind) and leeward (away/downwind). Are there left and right too? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windward_and_leeward

Even without the wind, the separate words help. In crew (rowed) boats, people sit backwards. And then boats are stored on racks upside-down. It can get complicated!

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

#532

Post by phone8675309 »

jrockway wrote: post #253
endtime wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many of these have common non-nautical uses? I don't think I ever use any of these terms, or hear anyone else use them, in common speech.

"at the helm" seems like common usage to me. Maybe not in the top 100 idioms, but everyone knows what you mean. "tiller" is just the thing that controls the position of the rudder, which I think most people know about. (That said, nobody in aviation calls their rudder pedals the "tiller", so it might be a strictly nautical term.)

Tiller was popular at least in the 1960s - see the Cat Stevens/Yousef album "Tea for the Tillerman"

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

#534

Post by TacticalCoder »

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.

I'll go with "anchor".

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

#535

Post by SilasX »

ekianjo wrote: post #383
russellbeattie wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Spain a computer is an ordenador. Spaniards hate anglicisms. Car is coche, not carro, email is correo electronico, zipper is cremallera. Lots of others.

Is carro used more in Mexico then ?

Similar for computadora (rather than ordenador) in Latin America:

https://www.woodwardspanish.com/how-to-say-computer-spanish-...

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

#536

Post by OJFord »

runlaszlorun wrote: post #495
jdmichal wrote: post #461

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People only have one appendix to start with. Did you mean appendage?

Perhaps they have -1 now. Either that or my recent C excursions have me thinking in buffer overruns and index errors.

That would be two less than they should have? Unless you're commenting on its uselessness that they 'should' have zero despite one being normal?

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

#537

Post by Workaccount2 »

johnwalkr wrote: post #519
tomxor wrote: post #483

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a particularly strange kind of overthinking, implicitly acknowledging the medical field is complex enough to consult a professional, and yet thinking something as common and (relatively) simple as interpreting left/right from patient descriptions hasn't already been considered. That's before even getting into the assumption of face to face orientation over a phone... is that in virtual terms, or in terms of ab…

It reminds me of a lot of hackernews comments on technical topics from non-software fields.

Only on HN would the domain of "technical topics" be constrained to software.

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

#538

Post by okdood64 »

OnlyMortal wrote: post #527

Because the words come from Dutch nautical terms. “Starboard” is really “Steer-board”, an external keel on one side of a boat. Therefore Port is the only side of the boat that can dock to the port.

Yes, this is exactly what the fine article says. It's not very long.

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

#539

Post by glxxyz »

noduerme wrote: post #139
jdietrich wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the automotive trade, a vehicle has a "driver's side" and "passenger side". This only partly solves the ambiguity, because of course some countries drive on the left.

I thought it would be difficult when I bought a car in Australia to manage shifting with my left hand, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy. I had been under the impression for some reason that the clutch would be controlled with the right foot. Thank God the pedals are in the same places.

The first time I drove a manual car back in the UK after a few years driving a manual in Canada I went to change gear and grabbed the door handle.

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

#540

Post by illegalsmile »

tuatoru wrote: post #522
gorbypark wrote: post #507

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the skiing and mountaineering world we use climbers (sometimes “lookers”) right/left or skiers right/left to differentiate when facing uphill or downhill. I find having both is helpful instead of just having a single standardized one. For example, if you are standing and looking at a mountain, it’s easier to say “just to the climbers left of that peak” because it’s on the left from your perspective, likewise when…

And in general hiking, referring to streams and rivers one may follow or cross, there are the "true left" and "true right" banks of the stream. Meaning, left or right looking the way the water is flowing: downstream.

We always say "river left" or "river right" but same same.
Post reply on HN