amateur of the day: anti-clockwise (and counter-clockwise)

Fri Aug 26 18:42:33 UTC 2011

The "amateur" is Keith Humphries of RBC blog:

http://goo.gl/99OoC

> Listening just now to a radio report of the counter-clockwise spinning
> Irene hurricane called to mind a night some years ago when I was lost in the
> Surrey darkness, trying to find the house of an English friend. My friend
> called me and said that I had made a mistake by turning left at the ring
> road, where I should have instead traveled “anti-clockwise”.
> I was surprised at the term, which I had never heard before. Its meaning is
> transparent on its face, but what threw me off was that my friend didn’t use
> my mother’s word “widdershins”, which I knew came from her UK ancestors. To
> them, widdershins meant particularly walking around a church with the wall
> always to one’s left rather than right, which could bring the devil’s curse
> of bad luck.

Compare OED:

withershins | widdershins, adv.
> Forms:  15– widder-, 16– wither-, (15 widdir-, weddir-, wod(d)er-, 15, 18
> wooder-); 15–18 -sins, 15– -shins, (15 -syns, -shynes, -shynnis, -son(n)is,
> 15, 18 -sinnis, -sones, 16 -shines, 18 -schynnes).... (Show More)
> Etymology:  < Middle Low German weddersin(ne)s (compare wedersins
> ‘contrario modo’, Kilian), < Middle High German widersinnes, < wider-wither-
> prefix + genitive of sin (especially Middle German) = sind, sint way,
> direction (see sithe n.1): compare Middle High German widersinnen to return.
> In sense 2 associated with son, sun n.1... (Show Less)
> dial. (chiefly Sc.).
> †1. In a direction opposite to the usual; the wrong way; to stand or start
> withershins , (of the hair) to ‘stand on end’. Obs.
>  2. In a direction contrary to the apparent course of the sun (considered
> as unlucky or causing disaster).
>

withershin(s) | widdershin(s), adj.
> Etymology:  < withershins adv.
>   Moving in an anticlockwise direction, contrary to the apparent course of
> the sun (considered as unlucky or sinister); unlucky, ill-fated, relating to
> the occult.

Note "anti-clockwise" both in the adj. lemma and in the blog post.
Anti-clockwise has examples from 1898 to 1927, but that's still not as
out-of-date as counter-clockwise, which only has two--1888 and 1890.

GB search for {anticloskwise | "anti-clockwise"} <1898 returns 272 raw
ghits, 52 raw for <1888, 12 actual, including three spuriously tagged and 9
math texts.

http://goo.gl/kzjBv
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Volume 29. June 19, 1879
On the Secular Effects of Tidal Friction. By G. H. Darwin. pp. 176-7

> i. Then in fig. 1, for all points of the line of momentum from C through E
> to infinity, /x/ is negative and /y/ is positive; therefore this indicates
> an anti-clockwise revolution of the satellite, and a clockwise rotation of
> the planet, but the m. of m. planetary rotation is greater than that of the
> orbital motion.
> ...
> ii. For all points of the line of momentum from D through F to infinity,
> /x/ is positive and /y/ is negative; therefore the motion of the satellite
> is clockwise, and that of the planetary rotation anti-clockwise, but the m.
> of m. of the orbital motion is greater than that of the planetary rotation.

One of the other hits (1939) is a dictionary that lists sinister==climbing
anti-clockwise.

Similar search for counterclockwise yields 331 raw ghits <1888, 9 <1877,
including 7 spuriously tagged. The remaining 2 are from the same year.

http://goo.gl/rLwaK
Principles of Mechanism. 2nd ed. By Robert Willis. London: 1870
p. 158

> Consequently if the screw be left handed, it must be turned counter
> clockwise to enter a fixed nut, or put a movable nut in action upon the
> extremity of its screw.

p. 233

> Thus a series of points is obtained through which the curves can be drawn
> as in Fig. 228 and theoretically they satisfy the condition of equalising
> the velocity of the reciprocating piece. If the lower curve, which is the
> driver, be rotated counter-clockwise its increasing radii will enable it
> to press against the decreasing radii of the follower until the concave
> salient point which terminates the long diameter of the driver is brought
> into contact with /b/.

p. 428

> We have already seen that the arrangement of the cord /DW/ prevents the
> cylinder from revolving counter-clockwise, and leaves it free to be turned
> the reverse way, while on the other hand the motion given by raising and
> lowering the knob *G *grasps the cylinder and communicates rotation to it.
> As this rotation is in the direction of the clock, when the knob is raised
> the cord *BW *serves merely to steady the motion.

 http://goo.gl/jvJPb
Geometric Optics. By Osmund Airy. London: 1870
p. 18

> For convenience the algebraic sign of the moment is said to be /positive/
> when the moment tends to turn the body in a direction /counter-clockwise/,
> and /negative/ when it tends to turn the body in the /clockwise/ direction.

pp. 51-2

> 30. ... If the couple tends to produce rotation in the clockwise
> direction, the moment is said to be negative; and if counterclockwise,
> positive.
> 31. Representation of Couples. -- The couple involves magnitude (moment)
> and direction (rotation), and may, therefore, be represented by an arrow,
> the length of the line being proportional to the moment of the couple, and
> the arrow indicating the direction of rotation. In order to make the matter
> of direction of rotation clear, the agreement is made that the arrow be
> drawn perpendicular to the plane of the couple on that side from which the
> rotation appears counter-clockwise.
> 32. ... The moment arrow of the resultant couple will be perpendicular to
> the cover of the book and on the side from which the rotation appears
> counter-clockwise. ...

p. 169

> Angular velocity involves a magnitude and a direction, and may, therefore,
> be represented by an arrow (see Fig. 119), the length of the arrow
> representing the magnitude and drawn perpendicular to the plane of motion
> such that if you look along the arrow, from its point, the motion appears
> positive or negative; positive if counter-clockwise and negative if
> clockwise.

Both conventions (left-handed screw==counter-clockwise; positive direction
of rotation==counter-clockwise) are fairly standard today, so it's
interesting to find both in the same year, but it is doubtful either one is
original.  In fact, I am absolutely shocked that there is nothing in GB
earlier than 1870 for either term. No point post-dating either one, as they
are quite common (well, one more than the other). In any case, both need
updated quotations on both ends.

VS-)

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