sid: (Metropolis clock)
sid ([personal profile] sid) wrote2011-04-28 12:26 am

A timely thought

As the days of analog timepieces fade into history, will the directions "Turn clockwise to tighten" soon lose all meaning?

Will the expression persist, complete with scholarly footnotes and diagrams?

What could possibly replace it?

Any youngsters out there who can give a current status report?

And, just for fun, what other words or phrases can you think of that belong to the past but live on in the present? (It's late, and all I can think of right now is "Hold your horses!")
chalcopyrite: Two little folded-paper boats in the rain (Default)

[personal profile] chalcopyrite 2011-04-28 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
I have only rarely seen it correctly. Still bugs me. *wry g*

[personal profile] sid, another one for you: having a "nest egg." :)
chalcopyrite: A green background, maybe of overlapping leaves, with the words "Peasant child, you're into botany." (words: peasant child)

[personal profile] chalcopyrite 2011-04-28 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
I was pondering the nest egg phrase -- I'm pretty sure the metaphorical phrase came into use while nest eggs were still being used in the literal sense -- and I think it does make sense if you look at it sideways. It's something left over when everything is gone, something kept back that gives you a place to start over. Odd little phrase, though.

As for pulling a fast one on the poultry: commercially, no, and I doubt it's necessary if they're restricted in range/limited in suitable places to lay. But given their liberty, they *will* hide their clutches if you take all the eggs -- hens cannot distinguish between "one" and "more," but they can tell the difference between "some" and "none," and reach the absolutely correct conclusion that someone's nicking the eggs! So I know I have used a nest egg to keep them laying in a nest I have found. Saves hours of searching. :)

(You know how far you've sunk when you're engaging in a war of wits with a chicken.)