How come nobody knows north, south, east and west?

Well First Off...

I think it's safe to say that if you reach the age of 20 and you can't tell which way south or north is, then you'll never know. I've tried explaining the simple concept to people, but I think it just goes in one ear and out the other.

People also seem embarrassed by the fact that they don't know. If I'm giving directions to people, they'll never come out and say "I don't know which way south is", and will instead pretend they know, and then I'll have to figure out that they actually don't know.

I once asked a fella which way south was, and his reply was "I couldn't tell you from here". Sounds like a good excuse, but we were standing in the same valley that his house was in and only about a mile away from where he did live! I doubt if I walked home with him and asked him the same question later, that he'd be able to answer!

It baffles me even more when they're able to know which side of the river in their city is north or south, but yet if you say 'north' when asking directions, they'll be completely stumped!

It's such a useful tool to use if you don't know the names of the streets. You can say "I'm on the street parallel to Church st on the east side"

Franz Von Peppercorn

Abd then Kate came in. Pissed me off as I was eating breakfast.

PirateShampoo

Well First Off... wrote: »

It's such a useful tool to use if you don't know the names of the streets. You can say "I'm on the street parallel to Church st on the east side"

Who has ever given directions like that?

Roger Hassenforder

Not knowing your arsė from your elbow is far more egregious

Gimme A Pound

Title = fake news.

guineapigstar

Stupid thread really.

Ninthlife

Well First Off... wrote: »

"I'm on the street parallel to Church st on the east side"

Sounds like an episode of COPS

looksee

Not much point giving directions about being on Church street on the east side when you know you are the only one that understands east.

blade1

Well First Off... wrote: »

I once asked a fella which way south was

Seems like you don't know yourself.

Ninthlife

Well First Off... wrote: »

Well how would you describe it so if you didn't know the names of any other streets?

Use pub names, always worked for me.

Chancer3001

My sat nav starts directions with sh1t like TURN EAST ...

Fuk off. I don't have a fukkin compass.

FFS. means sometimes I just have to drive/ walk a direction 50 50 chance I'm going the wrong way

PirateShampoo

Well First Off... wrote: »

Well how would you describe it so if you didn't know the names of any other streets?

I would say "do you know Church St, I'll meet you there"

ARNOLD J RIMMER

Well First Off... wrote: »

I think it's safe to say that if you reach the age of 20 and you can't tell which way south or north is, then you'll never know. I've tried explaining the simple concept to people, but I think it just goes in one ear and out the other.

People also seem embarrassed by the fact that they don't know. If I'm giving directions to people, they'll never come out and say "I don't know which way south is", and will instead pretend they know, and then I'll have to figure out that they actually don't know.

I once asked a fella which way south was, and his reply was "I couldn't tell you from here". Sounds like a good excuse, but we were standing in the same valley that his house was in and only about a mile away from where he did live! I doubt if I walked home with him and asked him the same question later, that he'd be able to answer!

It baffles me even more when they're able to know which side of the river in their city is north or south, but yet if you say 'north' when asking directions, they'll be completely stumped!

It's such a useful tool to use if you don't know the names of the streets. You can say "I'm on the street parallel to Church st on the east side"

So where I am now. Which way is EAST?

the_pen_turner

why would anyone need to used NSEW like that in directions .

do you really tell someone tp go up to a junction and turn south, why would you do such a crazy thing. use left and right etc and people will undrstand

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Not many streets or roads around here with a simple North South or East West orientation. Here it would be "go north north east and I'm standing on church street on the south by south west side".

PirateShampoo

Well First Off... wrote: »

Yeah but that could mean that you'd have to drag somebody an unnecessary couple of hundred yards.

Do you have to be so obtuse?

Or I could be saving someone the embarrassment of being shamed for not getting thier Boy Scouts badge for navigation.

looksee

The thing about moss on trees isn't accurate - only this morning I saw a tree with moss on the west side. Admittedly the forest was fairly solid on that side so you can see how the moss got codded, but no help if you are lost. Same with sun rise and sun set, great guidance provided you are up early enough, and its not clouded over, otherwise you might just as well guess.

doolox

I noticed that when I was in The US people gave directions in terms of North South etc while people in my native Galway used expressions like up the road or down the road etc.... The up and down directions bore little relationship to the cardinal points or to any geographical feature and varied depending on the village you were in.

In fact there was a study done on this subject of upness and downess in Irish directions which showed a high variation depending on the townland or village you came from.

The Yanks have no such problems, east is east and west is west.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Well First Off... wrote: »

I wouldn't give such directions unless the roads did have an obvious orientation. Say if it was parallel to the river Liffey.

So, you only know the four cardinal points and then only with reference to a landmark.

looksee

PirateShampoo wrote: »

Or I could be saving someone the embarrassment of being shamed for not getting thier Boy Scouts badge for navigation.

I got the Girl Guide one, and can still 'box the compass', though its a bit boring so I won't bother you with it. And its no use for finding direction unless you know one of them.

Gimme A Pound

Well First Off... wrote: »

I do now!

But everybody else can't be that stupid can they?

Obviously not. You know that there are people who know those directions.

I use that system myself. I have a terrible sense of direction and NSEW suits me well.

Aphorism Capital

Just because streets aren't in a nsew direction doesn't mean nsew directions have no use.

For example, a question such as " Is the landmark north or South of the town?" can clear up confusion. Sometimes people give directions such as "turn left at the crossroads". There is potential for miscommunication as the person giving directions could be assuming the person they are giving directions is coming from a different direction than they actually are. So it could in fact be right at the crossroads. But if you say the location is North of the crossroads that possible miscommunication is eliminated if both parties understand nsew.

looksee

Well First Off... wrote: »

If there's a clear sky then (assuming you know the time) you don't need to be up early enough. You should be able to tell during any time when there's day light. Think about it.

The moss on trees method obviously doesn't sound very reliable.

Now you are adding qualifications. If you just woke up and stepped out of a dark building you might be able to see the sun down towards the horizon but you could not be certain whether it was morning or evening. And if there is sufficient cloud cover that you can't see the sun then you ... can't see it.

looksee

There you are now, only took us 3 pages...

biko

Only Yanks say things like
"I'm on the west side of the building"

Irish response:
"Well, I'm standing outside The Red Lion on Moore Street. Make your way over here, you muppet"

Ken Tucky

guineapigstar wrote: »

Stupid thread really.

Really taught OP was going to tell us but got as far as your post, laughed and bailed out

Aphorism Capital

biko wrote: »

Only Yanks say things like
"I'm on the west side of the building"

Irish response:
"Well, I'm standing outside The Red Lion on Moore Street. Make your way over here, you muppet"

You're ignoring situations where it's very useful.

Irish_peppa

But how can you tell NSEW without a compass.
Like the sun rises in the front of my house but i cant see the sun break the horizon when i see it its allready house height. so am i still to assume thats east? and where it sets is back garden again is that west when its about to disapear behind the house or can it be relatively high up and still be west

Gimme A Pound

Well First Off... wrote: »

Is that not a contradiction?

Sounds it all right!

Ubbquittious

People have gone stupid from relying on technology too much. Some can't navigate from the front door of their house to the back door without using Google Maps(tm)

buried

sk8erboii

Who actually cares? Do people with useless/easily learnable skills no one cares about try to make themselves feel superior?

looksee

Irish_peppa wrote: »

But how can you tell NSEW without a compass.
Like the sun rises in the front of my house but i cant see the sun break the horizon when i see it its allready house height. so am i still to assume thats east? and where it sets is back garden again is that west when its about to disapear behind the house or can it be relatively high up and still be west

What you are saying is more or less true, but just note where it disappears when it sets (which bit of a roof, for example) and note a couple of months later and it will set in a slightly different place. But on the whole you are correct. So if you stand in your garden facing your front door east is behind you, north is to your right and south is to your left, and west is in front of you.

Aphorism Capital

Irish_peppa wrote: »

But how can you tell NSEW without a compass.
Like the sun rises in the front of my house but i cant see the sun break the horizon when i see it its allready house height. so am i still to assume thats east? and where it sets is back garden again is that west when its about to disapear behind the house or can it be relatively high up and still be west

You won't always know, but you can often figure it out. For example if you live on the east coast you can tell which way is north and south if you can see the sea.

Del2005

Well First Off... wrote: »

Well how would you describe it so if you didn't know the names of any other streets?

If I'm giving someone directions I'll say take the 2nd left, then a right, then left. By this time they will have forgotten my directions and ask someone else. If I'm telling someone where I am I'll use the Eircode or send them my location.

If I need to find South I'll use my phone or watch. But usually I just look at the satilite dishes.

Aphorism Capital

sk8erboii wrote: »

Who actually cares? Do people with useless/easily learnable skills no one cares about try to make themselves feel superior?

It's not useless, have you ever been given a long list of dirrctions on old country roads, one wrong step could have you lost. But if you have an orientation you can correct and adjust your route yourself.

Irish_peppa

Can you use Google Maps or Google Streetview to figure out NSWE?

looksee

Aphorism Capital wrote: »

It's not useless, have you ever been given a long list of dirrctions on old country roads, one wrong step could have you lost. But if you have an orientation you can correct and adjust your route yourself.

Provided its not raining.

Aphorism Capital

sugarman wrote: »

Most people havent needed to read a map and determine their direction in well over a decade thanks to phones and satnavs at hand.

Its easier and hell of a lot quicker to drop a pin on whatsapp than it is trying to explain to somewhere North/South/East/West, X or Y Street beside Z landmark.

If a location isn't marked on google maps or if it's ambiguous it can be useful to use nsew to eliminate other locations.

corner of hells

Aphorism Capital wrote: »

It's not useless, have you ever been given a long list of dirrctions on old country roads, one wrong step could have you lost. But if you have an orientation you can correct and adjust your route yourself.

What's an orientation ?

Aphorism Capital

looksee wrote: »

Provided its not raining.

It depends on where you are, if you're near the east coast and can see the sea then you know which way is north, south, east and west.

If you can see a motorway which you know is in the north south direction you can use that information to orient yourself.

Aphorism Capital

corner of hells wrote: »

What's an orientation ?

An mental map which gives a sense of direction.

the_pen_turner

Aphorism Capital wrote: »

It's not useless, have you ever been given a long list of dirrctions on old country roads, one wrong step could have you lost. But if you have an orientation you can correct and adjust your route yourself.

no you cant . long country roads can twist all over the place. you can have 2 side roads going to the same place and only a few hundred yards apart but pointing in completly different directions.
saying turn south will work at one junction but not others

Aphorism Capital

I had this very problem last year. I was in Slane loiking for a place that sold kitchen countertops, from Google maps I could tell it was one of two places, but it wasn't clear. So I rang the place and asked how to get there. They said go left at the crossroads. To avoid any confusion I asked if they were North or South of the town, this would have solved the problem Unfotunately they didn't know if they were North or South of the town. Turns out they were very obviously South of the town.

Aphorism Capital

the_pen_turner wrote: »

no you cant . long country roads can twist all over the place. you can have 2 side roads going to the same place and only a few hundred yards apart but pointing in completly different directions.
saying turn south will work at one junction but not others

I never suggested to say turn south in such a scenario. But if you say the location is south of another particlar landmark it can help orient to driver so they don't get completely lost.

You can use logic to eliminate possibilities.

buried

Won't be long now before nobody will know their left from their right, or their up from their down.

Del2005

Aphorism Capital wrote: »

I had this very problem last year. I was in Slane loiking for a place that sold kitchen countertops, from Google maps I could tell it was one of two places, but it wasn't clear. So I rang the place and asked how to get there. They said go left at the crossroads. To avoid any confusion I asked if they were North or South of the town, this would have solved the problem Unfotunately they didn't know if they were North or South of the town. Turns out they were very obviously South of the town.

It would have been easier to ask for their Eircode, multiple ways to find the correct location with that.

Pwindedd

Naughty Elephants Squirt Water - clockwise around the compass.

Sun rises in the east and sets in the west

That's about all anyone really needs to know in fairness

Dtp1979

Chancer3001 wrote: »

My sat nav starts directions with sh1t like TURN EAST ...

Fuk off. I don't have a fukkin compass.

FFS. means sometimes I just have to drive/ walk a direction 50 50 chance I'm going the wrong way

Yes!! So ****ing annoying. “Head west on X Street”. How the **** do I know where West is sitting in a car.

Dakotabigone

Pwindedd wrote: »

Naughty Elephants Squirt Water - clockwise around the compass.

Sun rises in the east and sets in the west

That's about all anyone really needs to know in fairness

That’s no good if the day is cloudy.

how.gareth

I hate this thread