591–600 of 636 posts
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Always? Ferries are boats, demonstrably not true there as they dock both sides.
And "fore" and "aft" are useful to disambiguate the ends of boats that flip 90 degrees in pitch, because the front becomes the top and the back becomes the bottom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULvLeK9O7fY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shPATcV9Dzw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQxQfQU_hsk
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In English "right" is one syllable and "starboard" is two. All things considered, using right/left is more concise. If you are aware enough of your orientation on a boat to know where port and starboard are located, you are also aware enough to know where left and right are located.
The different number of syllables are like a checksum. Plus, that's not how brains work. Using a word for different things that change depending on context is like reusing a variable, with a compiler that randomizes global and local scope. In aviation they watch out for "Regression to prior learning", in the kitchen I watch out for putting something in the microwave instead of the fridge because the action is similar…
A familiar experience... I have to catch myself when I start to throw the spoon into the bin and the teabag into the dishwasher!
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If you look at statistics, most deaths occur in small boats with a crew who have no idea what these words mean, because they don't have a license. These are the most common reason of fatalities: - Not wearing a lifejacket or PFD. - Falling overboard. - Capsizing, swamping, sinking, or running aground. - Being involved in a collision. - Operating a pleasure craft while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The goal…
I’m not sure you have really thought this through. You’re suggesting that people avoid using port and starboard on a boat because they should be focused on learning how to not fall overboard? Terms like “port” and “starboard” are particularly important when someone falls overboard. The last thing you want to do is tell someone to grab the man overboard “on the right side” and have them go to the wrong side of the boa…
When I was doing my original boating license, again the practical part on water was about 20 minutes (starting / stopping and saving somebody from water)
I had much more road practice in my road driving license included, and there wasn't anything unnecessary taught there, I still use 90% of the things taught then when I am driving.
Is it left as in I’m looking at the engine or left as if I was sitting in the car? I think it’s the latter, but I always forget.
Can’t use driver’s/passenger’s side for orientation either.
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…
The opposite of that, rarely used but still out there, is house left/house right.
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> the Germanic words stemming from 'kase', referring to caseine Casein was not discovered before cheese was. 'kase' doesn't refer to casein. Casein, the family of proteins, is named after cheese, the milk product consisting in large part of those proteins. And 'kase' is not a Germanic root. Fromage descends from the Latin word for "shape". 'kase' descends from the Latin word for "cheese". > There are two conclusions…
Is this why cheese (I believe via Roman Latin) is also 'cacio'? I'm only familiar due to 'cacio a pepe'.
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True but you are not wandering around yourself! I agree though that the first para looks like just so nonsense. I know plenty of matelots (UK Navy) that use left and right, sharp end and blunt end for the cardinal points of a vessel. I do as well and use port, starb'd, bow and stern as they do too. Ironically enough, port and starboard markers which are the red and green buoys you see near to ports (yes!) need to be…
> Ironically enough, port and starboard markers which are the red and green buoys you see near to ports (yes!) need to be considered in reverse when going out. The green ones are called starboard markers and if you are in a big enough vessel, you should keep them off your starboard (right) side when approaching a port from the open seas. On the way out from port to the open seas you should keep the red ones on your r…
"But whether they are green to port and red to starboard or the opposite depends entirely upon what region of the world you are navigating. The IALA established two regions: Region A and Region B.
Region A consists of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, parts of Africa and most of Asia. When entering a harbor in this region, marks to port are red and marks to starboard are green.
Region B consists of North America, Central America and South America, plus the Philippines, Japan and Korea. When entering a harbor in this region, marks to port are green and marks to starboard are red (red, right, return!)."
I had no idea but I do now!
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In the case of cheese, I've had a long-running discussion with French extended family regarding exactly what the words refer to. Norwegian 'cheese' = 'ost', and we refer to the brown cheese produced by boiling and solidifying the left-over whey fluid from cheese production as 'brunost'; 'brown cheese'. This product is important in cultures where food security and calories are held at a premium. My French relatives ho…
> the dictionary translation of words does not capture somewhat-subtle but sometimes important distinctions between words Good point. I have yet to see a dictionary that also provides delineation with similar-but-different words and describes the differences. That'd be very useful for language learners, as colloquial use often eschews definition in favor of socially common convention. I.e. "That word does mean that,…
Authentic, Genuine. The prevailing sense of authentic is authoritative, trustworthy, with the implication of accordance with fact; as "confirmed both by legend and authentic record" (Froude); "assurances more or less authentic" (Wordsworth); an authentic portrait. The prevailing sense of Genuine is native, real, true (see Real), often with the implication of descent from, or correspondence to, an original source or stock; as, a genuine merino, genuine piety; "true simplicity and genuine pathos" (Wordsworth); cf (colloq.) "the genuine article" with "the real thing." Both terms are used - genuine more frequently than authentic - as opposed to spurious, counterfeit, apocryphal; as "Let them contrast their own fantastical personages ... with the authentic rustics of Burns" (Jeffrey); "What is genuine knowledge and what is its counterfeit" (J.H. Newman). The 18th century distinction between the two terms, as applied to documents - "A genuine book is that which was written by the person whose name it bears as the author of it; an authentic book is that which relates matters of fact as they really happened" (Bp. Watson) - while still often observed, is becoming obliterated in present usage; as "The criticism which thus so freely diminishes the numer of his [Giorgione's] authentic works" (W. Pater); "Some collectors frankly take the ground that they buy what pleases them, and that age and authenticity are minor considerations" (The Nation). See Real, Correct.
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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…
I’m curious, have you ever played Kerbal Space Program? Or, are you familiar with orbital mechanics for a different reason? KSP taught me about those terms and familiarized me with the concept.