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Does each language have "lefty loosey righty tighty"? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by vatlark@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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The world has a lot of different standards for a lot of things, but I have never heard of a place with the default screw thread direction being opposite.

So does each language have a fun mnemonic?

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[-] Kaelygon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

I just have it in muscle memory to know which way soda bottle cap tightens

[-] NostraDavid@programming.dev 5 points 3 hours ago

DROL: Dicht Rechts, Open Links.

I think I just prefer Links Los, which implies that the other way tightens.

Dutch, BTW.

[-] repungnant_canary@lemmy.world 11 points 8 hours ago

Gas valves famously use the opposite direction

[-] Nomecks@lemmy.ca 1 points 29 minutes ago

Propane, but I'm pretty sure natural gas uses regular NPT.

[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 31 points 14 hours ago

The German version as actually survived its original time frame: "So lang das Deutsche Reich besteht, wird Schraube fest nach rechts gedreht" - "As long as the German Reich exists, a screw is tightened by turning right"

[-] squiidoink@lemmy.blahaj.zone 33 points 13 hours ago

yeah, this one is only for inside voice. I won't be teaching it to anyone anymore.

[-] hikaru755@lemmy.world 26 points 13 hours ago

I'm German, and I've never heard that before. I'd be seriously weirded out by someone saying that or teaching it to their kids

[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 37 points 13 hours ago

I have to admit that this is rather old. So old, in fact, that it does not refer to the Third Reich but the Kaiserreich.

[-] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 hours ago

I don’t think anyone thought it was about the third reich

[-] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Probably someone did. Not all English-speakers know about the first two, even though they're implied by "third".

[-] Starb3an@lemmy.world 2 points 56 minutes ago

Yup this was me. I knew it was the third, but it never occurred to me to ask what the other 2 were

[-] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 51 minutes ago* (last edited 50 minutes ago)

TBH I knew about the Kaiserreich, but I had to look up the first one myself. It was the Holy Roman Empire. (Which wasn't really much of a reich, but the Nazis weren't noted for their attention to historical accuracy)

[-] ours@lemmy.world 8 points 9 hours ago

That's better but not that by much. A few years ago Germany raided some very rich and very well-armed wackos who wanted to bring back the Kaiserreich.

[-] eunieisthebus@feddit.org 8 points 13 hours ago

Never heard of this. We say 'auf links, rechts zu' and simply order the words alphabetically

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 6 points 13 hours ago

So ... shouldn't German screws now turn to the left?

[-] valkyre09@lemmy.world 7 points 11 hours ago

See!!! This is why communism is bad!! Since you’ve started turning everything to the left, it’s all come apart!!

[-] blind3rdeye@lemm.ee 3 points 10 hours ago

Nar. A statement and its converse are not equivalent.

[-] kamen@lemmy.world 14 points 13 hours ago

I can't think of an equivalent phrase in Bulgarian for that, but it's known that [most] threads tighten when turning clockwise... and if you don't know what direction the clock goes, what are you even doing with screws or bolts...

And again there are special cases even outside of threads - for example in plumbing there are some valves that are open when the handle is parallel to the pipe and closed when the handle is perpendicular - and it might just happen that the closing motion happens counterclockwise.

[-] nutsack@lemmy.world 6 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

reverse threads are also found on things like bicycles and cars which have parts that spin counter clockwise

[-] kamen@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

Yep, I'm familiar with those - on almost any bycicle the left pedal would tighten to the crank counterclockwise.

[-] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 2 points 8 hours ago

Except for the stupid friggin discount stationary bike my wife bought. That must be the exception you're referring to...

[-] kamen@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago

That's why it's discounted...

[-] olafurp@lemmy.world 9 points 13 hours ago

"Eins og kókflaska" or "Same as a Coca Cola bottle", not universal in Iceland though

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this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2024

454 points (97.7% liked)

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