Poll of the Day > Anti-clockwise or Counter-clockwise?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Which do you say?

I don't know anyone who says "anti-" instead of "counter-".

Isn't it an international dialect thing? Don't most English speaking countries say "anti-clockwise"? Does the US say something else? In every state or is counter-clockwise regional in the US?

Unwise

BigOlePappy posted...

Isn't it an international dialect thing? Don't most English speaking countries say "anti-clockwise"? Does the US say something else? In every state or is counter-clockwise regional in the US?

Uh no, if anyone said that I'd assume they're uneducated or not a native english speaker.

Never heard anti.

I don't understand the point of making up a phrase that has never been used before just to make a thread.

I got used to saying "anticlockwise" playing KSP. I can't remember 100% if it's actually in the game or not, but most orbits are anticlockwise. (It must be in the game or else I don't know where I'd have gotten it from.)

Cruddy_horse posted...

Uh no, if anyone said that I'd assume they're uneducated or not a native english speaker.

yes, anticlockwise is the british version. counterclockwise is a north-americanism.

BlackScythe0 posted...

I don't understand the point of making up a phrase that has never been used before just to make a thread.

Yeah...so people really say counterclockwise? It is only like some parts of the Mid-Americas right? I have some friends that live in the new world, I'll ask where most American dialects use it. People hate on dialects a lot, but it seems obvious why people would say "counter-clockwise". There is a linguistic reason for that. They aren't t like freaks or anything.

EclairReturns posted...

I don't know anyone who says "anti-" instead of "counter-".

The British do. And it annoys the fuck out of me any time I hear a British YouTuber using it.

Just like it sets my teeth on edge whenever I hear them say in-ven-tree instead of in-ven-tor-ee.

Or when they pronounce tube as "chube".

I've heard British people say some weird stuff but I haven't heard this one.

I've always heard and said counter-clockwise.

EclairReturns posted...

I don't know anyone who says "anti-" instead of "counter-".

it's another one of those idiotic British terms

ParanoidObsessive posted...

The British do. And it annoys the fuck out of me any time I hear a British YouTuber using it.

Just like it sets my teeth on edge whenever I hear them say in-ven-tree instead of in-ven-tor-ee.

Or when they pronounce tube as "chube".

I think "mare-eo" is the worst.

Krazy_Kirby posted...

I think "mare-eo" is the worst.

Living somewhere with actual Italians and Italian-Americans around, I've never given a shit how people who only know it from Nintendo want to say it.

It's anti-clockwise in Australia too, not just the UK.

Krazy_Kirby posted...

I think "mare-eo" is the worst.

Wouldnt bother me so much but the character says his own name like Mar-io ffs

"Counter clockwise."

kcolcwise

Sometimes I wonder how the British could further butcher their own language, and then they up the anti.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Living somewhere with actual Italians and Italian-Americans around, I've never given a shit how people who only know it from Nintendo want to say it.

Isnt the Japanese pronunciation of Mario pretty close to the Italian one?

lefty-loosy

The correct term is obviously "widdershins".

Counter clockwise. First time I've heard anti clockwise.

dainkinkaide posted...

The correct term is obviously "widdershins".

I'm giving you mad props for that joke. @dainkinkaide

Anti. British and all.

There are some British terms I like, but anticlockwise isn't one of them.

The problem with "anti" is that it doesn't imply "opposite": it just sounds as if you don't like clockwise for some unknowable reason. "Counter" is much more elegant methinks. Score a rare point for American English.

Never heard of "anti"-clockwise until this topic....

wpot posted...

The problem with "anti" is that it doesn't imply "opposite": it just sounds as if you don't like clockwise for some unknowable reason.

antimatter? countermatter?

Sahuagin posted...

antimatter? countermatter?

Fair, but "clockwise" implies a spinning motion and I think "counter" fits there nicely given the implication of action/motion/force. Contraclockwise might be better than either, but that's not a choice.

To that end, no, 'counter' wouldn't work for matter...and antimatter is so clearly the exact opposite of matter that something that implies opposition or even dislike (given that they blow up when they meet) works better. I can live with that one, in part because I can't think of anything better.

there are other examples, but I can't find great ones. the opposite of the normal vector can be called the antinormal vector. and there are also a class of vectors called antivectors, but what they are exactly I'm not sure.

Counter-clockwise and I'm South African, not American.

Counter clockwise has the alliteration going for it. Anti clockwise just sounds weird

wpot posted...

There are some British terms I like, but anticlockwise isn't one of them.

The problem with "anti" is that it doesn't imply "opposite": it just sounds as if you don't like clockwise for some unknowable reason. "Counter" is much more elegant methinks. Score a point for American English.

You lose all points for using "methinks".

That's OK, I didn't have any to begin with. But I'm still right. :)

BigOlePappy posted...

Yeah...so people really say counterclockwise? It is only like some parts of the Mid-Americas right? I have some friends that live in the new world, I'll ask where most American dialects use it. People hate on dialects a lot, but it seems obvious why people would say "counter-clockwise". There is a linguistic reason for that. They aren't t like freaks or anything.

Literally everybody says it. It isn't regional.

Other: clockfoolish.

Anti-clockfoolish!

Counta-clockwise.

Counterclockwise

if 'anti' is a British thing, it didn't carry over to Canada.

But what if your kitchen counter is spinning clockwise?

captpackrat posted...

But what if your kitchen counter is spinning clockwise?

then you are probably drunk

Krazy_Kirby posted...

then you are probably drunk

Or high.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lgXRtw5nMY

why do Americans have such a weird disdain for British English?

yes both countries say different words and phrases differently, get over it lol

FatalAccident posted...

why do Americans have such a weird disdain for British English?

yes both countries say different words and phrases differently, get over it lol

It's the other way around.

FatalAccident posted...

why do Americans have such a weird disdain for British English?

Revelation34 posted...

It's the other way around.

It very much goes both ways.

If you spend enough time watching British YouTubers, you'll start to notice they tend to have this sort of indignant ignorance about 90% of American culture. It gets especially amusing or irritating when they're absolutely positive and definitive about something that they're 100% wrong about.

I can't even count on both hands and both feet the number of times I've heard a British YouTuber say something along the lines of "All Americans say/do this" and my immediate reaction is "I've literally never seen/heard anyone do that".

But Americans also tend to be defiantly rebellious with the mindset that there are only two ways to say or do anything in life - the American Way, and the wrong way. Everything that isn't familiar to us is foreign, and therefore bad.

The thing is, I'd argue that most people are like this. Humans tend to be xenophobic as part of inherent human nature. It's just that most cultures are either more inclined to lie about it or otherwise keep their mouths shut out of politeness (whereas Americans and the British tend to be more open and blunt about a lot of things), or are simply less represented on English-speaking websites so you're less likely to encounter them in the first place (ie, you're going to see more Americans or British people online saying things than you are people from Burma or Paraguay).

ParanoidObsessive posted...

I can't even count on both hands and both feet the number of times I've heard a British YouTuber say something along the lines of "All Americans say/do this" and my immediate reaction is "I've literally never seen/heard anyone do that".

Sorry PO, but we're going to need a picture of your feet to make sure you're not lying.

SoreChasm posted...

Sorry PO, but we're going to need a picture of your feet to make sure you're not lying.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/4c/80/01/4c80013d4058f28d733ceb8d7ca6ac44.jpg

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/0/0/AAPtSiAAD_vM.jpg