Comment on Why don't compasses have just two Cardinal directions (North, East, -North, -East)?
fizzle@quokk.au 2 days 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 1 day 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:
Image
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…:
Image
fizzle@quokk.au 1 day ago
Sure, but 4 is easier to remember?
DoomProphet@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day 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 1 day ago
We used to say Boreas, Auster, Zephyr and Eurus
leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
Sure, but that’s usually much less poetic, North by Northwest notwithstanding.