Comment on Why don't compasses have just two Cardinal directions (North, East, -North, -East)?
fizzle@quokk.au 4 weeks ago
For most of human history people who couldn’t do math, or read, or understand a map, have been communicating directions to each other.
4 directions is just enough to tell someone which way to face, without being too many to remember.
leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 weeks ago
People used to have no problem remembering the names of at least eight winds, depending on the direction…
Here are the ones used in Catalonia, for instance; we were taught them at school:
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Though, to be fair, llevant means where the sun rises and ponent where it sets, migjorn means midday, which makes sense given the other two, and everyone already knew tramuntana, cause it’s a headache when it blows, so it’s mostly the other four we have to remember… the Greek one seems quite harder, though, then again, I’m not Greek…:
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fizzle@quokk.au 4 weeks ago
Sure, but 4 is easier to remember?
DoomProphet@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 weeks ago
We just say “North-East” for gregal or “North, North-East” if it’s half between North and gregal. Other would be North-West, South-West, and South-East.
funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 4 weeks ago
We used to say Boreas, Auster, Zephyr and Eurus
leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 weeks ago
Sure, but that’s usually much less poetic, North by Northwest notwithstanding.