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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
"Lefty Loosey righty tighty"
One arrow points up to the left, one points down to the left.
In Dutch we have DROL, Dicht recht, open links. So close right, open left as a very strict translation. But DROL is also Dutch for turd.
Never heard of that, I just remembered from my dad that clockwise is tight and counterclockwise is loose.
Same here, except for my dad, he is clumsy as hell.
Not aware of one in German.
We used to have one: "Solang das deutsche Reich besteht wird jede Schraube rechts gedreht." ("As long as the German Empire persists every screw is turned right.")
Given that the German Empire failed spectacularly, this sentence isn't very popular anymore.
I know it as "Seitdem das Deutsche Reich besteht wird die Schraube rechts gedreht" ("Since the German Reich was founded, the screw has been turned to the right"), I always assumed it was because many things were standardized between the German states after unification and that was one of these things, but I can't find any reference to that.
I have never heard that before this thread, possibly because I was born in Austria decades after the name "Deutsches Reich" was abolished.
Not for screwing/unscrewing but in France we have a satire mnemonic for remembering right and left:
The right hand is the one with the thumb pointing left.
Works only if you look at the back of your hands, and obviously not useful. We use it mainly to mock someone who mix right and left
I've never heard something like this
What's the phrase in French?
La main droite, c'est celle qui a le pouce Γ gauche
Not sure about the thumb one but for screws with only have:
Not really a mnemonic in German, but I once learned how to remember of the moon was in first or third quarter by comparing the form of the crescent with the Vereinfachte Ausgangsschrift cursive letters "a" (abnehmender Mond, first quarter crescent) and "z" (zinehmender Mond, third quarter crescent). The same applies to screws watching from the top, cursive "a" is for "auf" (open) and "z" for zu (close). By reading the comments, this is somewhat the closest you get to your mnemonic.
Never heard it in Polish but we generally don't need a mnemonic to remember which side is left and which is right (except in politics).
We have: "Nach fest kommt ab"
The phrase "Nach fest kommt ab" is a German saying that translates to "After tight comes off" in English. It's typically used to describe the idea that if you tighten something too much (like a screw), it will eventually break or come loose. Itβs often used to remind people to not overdo things.
Yes, but that phrase does not tell you in which direction you have to turn to tighten it. So it doesn't really answer the question?
Nope. Polish doesn't have one.
Neither does Czech.
The Spanish version is my favourite: la derecha oprime y la izquierda libera (the right oppresses and the left liberates)
I don't speak Spanish, but is there a reason this works well as a mnemonic? Like is there a reason you can't misremember it as la izquierda oprime y la derecha libera? Because the English phrase works by alliteration.
Edit: i guess if you think of it in terms of politics that helps
I had never heard that before. Is that a region or country-specific thing?
Oh wow that one is really good :D
I'm using this in every language I speak from now on!
I never really got that one, because "left" vs "right" only works when you are looking at the top of the screw. At the bottom, left tightens, and right loosens. So the one I remember is "clockwise to close".
Edit: the image on the post is actually a good example. If I'm off the screen to the right holding the spanner, then from my perspective, "left" would tighten.
Agreed. If the screw moves left or right, it fell out of its hole, lol. I guess "clockwise" is hard to rhyme.
I've always thought this too. I understand clockwise/anticlockwise and the direction being defined from the top - but it's a circle - no matter which way you turn, it spends 50% of the time going either direction. The phrase works with screwdrivers (especially ratcheting ones), but not so much spanners or Hex Keys IMO.
Definitely nothing in Arabic AFAIK.
I don't think we have a Swedish one. But we call clockwise "medsols" and counterclockwise "motsols". Meaning "with the sun" or "against the sun" Does everyone have reversed threads on plumbing or is that a Nordic/Swedish thing? All plumbing has the reversed rule, left tightens and right loosens.
The reversed rule in plumbing is only for gas lines in the Netherlands.
In the plumbing sector, left-hand threads are used whenever two pipe ends need to be connected that cannot be rotated. The connector is then equipped with a left-hand and right-hand thread and can therefore easily be screwed between them.
So it's not just typical for Nordic countries, but depends on the application.
Whut. Chaged my bathroom sink not long ago and it definitely loosens to the left/counter clock. Norway.
