this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2024
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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?

Photo credit: https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Giy8OrYJTjw/Tfm9Ne5o5hI/AAAAAAAAAB4/c7uBLwjkl9c/s1600/scan0002.jpg

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[–] NostraDavid@programming.dev 11 points 1 day ago

DROL: Dicht Rechts, Open Links.

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

Dutch, BTW.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 40 points 2 days ago (4 children)

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 39 points 2 days ago

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

[–] hikaru755@lemmy.world 33 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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 44 points 2 days ago (12 children)

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.

[–] ours@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Just like a number of very rich and well armed wackos want to bring back Trump in the US.

[–] ours@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

German conspiracy wackos and American ones have a lot in common.

During COVID their bullshit ven diagram was a flat circle.

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[–] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago (2 children)

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

[–] valkyre09@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago

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

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[–] eunieisthebus@feddit.org 9 points 2 days ago

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

[–] jinarched@lemm.ee 136 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (4 children)

"La derecha oprime y la izquierda libera"

The right oppresses, the left liberates

[–] Debardosbae@leminal.space 9 points 2 days ago

I love Spanish, damn that's a good way to say it.

[–] gerdesj@lemmy.ml 17 points 2 days ago (1 children)

La derecha oprime y la izquierda libera

I just knew that would be Spanish, without being able to speak more than a few words. It works far better than our effort and is both a sardonic and satirical political comment.

Well played Spanish if that really is the equivalent in common usage. Our effort sounds like it was invented by a young child whilst responding to a BBC quiz.

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[–] repungnant_canary@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Gas valves famously use the opposite direction

[–] Nomecks@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

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

[–] kamen@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

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

[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 1 points 1 day ago

Made me feel like I was crazy the first time I installed pedals on a bike.

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[–] DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org 407 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (10 children)

The Spanish version is my favourite: la derecha oprime y la izquierda libera (the right oppresses and the left liberates)

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[–] Taleya@aussie.zone 154 points 2 days ago (2 children)

The right oppresses, the left liberates

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[–] dQw4w9WgXcQ@lemm.ee 43 points 2 days ago (9 children)

I'm Norwegian. I never learned a rule in my language and always just went by instinct. Until ~3rd year of university in physics where someone told me tha the right-hand-rule applies to screws. Now I use that everywhere for screws in strange positions.

[–] bad_alloc@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 2 days ago

Well, this was a life-changing comment.

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[–] RBWells@lemmy.world 42 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (11 children)

You know this has always confused the fuck out of me. You are going around a circle, how is there left and right? There is up-and-left, down-and-left, either way is left. If I am starting on the right of the circle (assuming I'm looking at it) which way is right? Up or down?

[–] Sludgeyy@lemmy.world 19 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Imagine it like a car steering wheel.

You'd say turning the wheel to the right turns the car right.

Think of it like this. Like your hand is holding on the top of the steering wheel.

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[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

This has always annoyed me too. I know why it works, but it's clockwise and counter-(or anti-)clockwise. If you were turning from the bottom, left and right are mixed up. Maybe it's just too hard to come up with a phrase using those terms?

[–] Longpork3 6 points 2 days ago

Clockwise=lockwise

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[–] Kaelygon@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

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

[–] bluewing@lemm.ee 26 points 2 days ago (6 children)

A nice thought until you run into a left handed thread........

[–] LifeOfChance@lemmy.world 22 points 2 days ago (7 children)

It's works most of them time unless you're in a specialty trade making spindle, gears, and such that must be threaded backwards to avoid the wheel undoing itself.

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[–] MacStache@programming.dev 36 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Finnish doesn't have one. We just learn it by instinct and use the time saved to warm up the sauna.

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[–] Masterkraft0r@discuss.tchncs.de 100 points 3 days ago (5 children)

In austrian german dialect, "Mit da Ua, draht ma zua." which in standard german would be "Mit der Uhr, dreht man zu." and in english "With the clock, turn it closed." or something like that.

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[–] olafurp@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago (2 children)

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

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[–] 418_im_a_teapot@sh.itjust.works 38 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (69 children)

This phrase has never made any sense to me. It’s a circle. If one side is moving right, then the opposite side is moving left. So the phrase only makes sense if you specify which side we are talking about, which nobody ever does. Therefore it’s completely illogical to me while everyone else just gets it. Side note: Autism can be a real bitch sometimes.

Edit:

  1. Some people don’t understand how I can see a problem. That’s cool, but don’t be a dick. We all look at the world through different lenses.
  2. This is when I was a kid “helping” my grandfather in the garage. I’m older now and understand that “righty tighty” references the top of the rotation.
  3. Some people rotate their perspective 90° and imagine themselves standing on the screw. Therefore when your face rotates to the right the screw is tightened. I hadn’t ever thought of that. But I had imagined rotating my perspective 90° the other direction –the top of my head as a screwdriver. In that case, “lefty tighty”
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[–] wuphysics87@lemmy.ml 37 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (11 children)

The Right Hand Rule (RHR). Point the thumb of your right hand in the direction you want something to go. Curl your fingers. That is the direction of rotation. Translate to any language which has hands.

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[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 25 points 2 days ago

I'm from back in the generation when we had volume knobs.

My dad told me turn the volume up to tighten it, turn it down to loosen it.

I've never had a problem.

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