• Clockwise and counter-clockwise makes sense.

    But when you say “right” it’s not clear which side of the circle is being referenced. If the top of the circle is moving to the right, the bottom is moving left at the same time. So the saying only makes sense when you specify that you’re talking about the top of the circle.

    • @pyre@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      you have to have never seen a steering wheel to not understand which side of the circle is being referenced. it’s always the top. who would even reference anything else and why.

      “turn it right”

      “which part???”

      “the middle of course, you absolute alien”

      • @BCsven@lemmy.ca
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        25 hours ago

        Because people get confused when there is no space for the wrench at the top, and they put the handle at the bottom and try to move the wrench left or right, not referencing the top of bolt.

        Because they aren’t using the saying as a clokwise/counter clockwise reminder but as a flat out instruction.

    • Yes, it’s always the top side of the circle in this context, or you can think about how clock hands do go in a specific direction, because they’re a radius, not a circumference. There, now it’s cleared up for you.

    • @underisk@lemmy.ml
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      35 hours ago

      Imagine it as if it were a track you were driving around, which way would you turn the wheel?

    • @Zron@lemmy.world
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      56 hours ago

      What the fuck are you talking about.

      You’re either rotating the fastener to the right or the left.

      It doesn’t matter what side you’re talking about, because you’re not moving one side of the fastener, you’re rotating the whole thing one direction or the other.

      Clockwise just means something is rotating to the right.

      If I ask you to turn around to the right, are you going to ask me what side of you I’m referencing?

        • @threeganzi@sh.itjust.works
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          136 hours ago

          I tend to agree but you could argue that from a perspective in the center of the rotation you’re turning to the right. Imagine standing in the center of those arrows.

        • @Zron@lemmy.world
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          56 hours ago

          The whole thing is rotating to the right, that’s what clockwise means. Clocks rotate to the right. One arrow is not pointing left, it’s pointing in the direction of rotation, which is to the right.

          • @seth@lemmy.world
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            23 hours ago

            You think this arrow is pointing to the right, when it is clearly pointing up and to the left? Fascinating.

            • @Zron@lemmy.world
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              21 hour ago

              If you follow that arrow around to the next with your hand, which direction is your hand moving?

              That is indicating clockwise rotation, or a rotation to the right. We’re talking about circles here

      • @doggle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        45 hours ago

        If I ask you to turn around to the right, are you going to ask me what side of you I’m referencing?

        No, because humans have a pretty clear forward direction. Screws don’t. You say turn a screw to the right, do you mean make the top of the screw move right or the bottom move right?

        Most people assume the top, but not all, and the language is ambiguous.

        • @Zron@lemmy.world
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          11 hour ago

          The “front” or “forward” direction of a screw is clearly the face of the fastener itself, be it a hex head, Phillips, or Slotted screw. Picking a side of a face as the front doesn’t make any sense. The whole thing needs to rotate one direction or another, and it will either rotate to the right to tighten, or the left to loosen.

          If I ask you what the front of a clock is, are you going to tell me it’s the top curve near the ceiling? No it’s the face of the clock, and the hands rotate around it to the right.

      • @BCsven@lemmy.ca
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        25 hours ago

        You aee assuming a top orientation moving to the right. Give somebody a wrench handle at the bottom of nut and tell them left to loosen, you will see how most take it literally and move handle to the left side of their body. they think in terms of their left and their right, not the screws right left from a starting location at top, or if from 4 oclock position to the “left of” 4 oclock as if you were facing the 4.