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From: Jerome Keller[SMTP:jkeller@cc-mail.pica.army.mil]
Sent: Friday, September 29, 1995 11:07 AM
To: mgs@autox.team.net; wzehring@cmb.biosci.wayne.edu
Subject: Re[2]: Silly part name
Hmmm....I have always thought the "near side" was the side nearest =
the=20
driver, which in jolly old England, of course, is the Right side of =
the vehicle. And the "off side" would natually be the other side, =
the=20
passenger side, and the Left side of a Home model MG.
=20
See, what's been puzzlin' ME is....for an EXPORT model, like a TD =
made=20
for the US market and having Left Hand Drive, would the "near side" =
be
the Left side?
=20
When reading the factory manuals, where "near side" and "off side" =
are=20
frequently encountered, what is being said always seems consistent=20
with the above....for Home models.
=20
What we need here is a real British correspondent, preferably of =
the=20
old school, factory racing team persuasion.....to settle this.
=20
Jerry
______________________________ Reply Separator =
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Subject: Re: Silly part name
Author: wzehring@cmb.biosci.wayne.edu (Will Zehring) at Internet
Date: 9/29/95 8:25 AM
>
>
>And I know of offside in football and hockey, but what's the "OFF SIDE" =
of=20
>my B?
>
=20
Okay: offside: bear in mind that in England (there'll always be one) =
folks=20
drive on the 'wrong' side of the road (i.e. the left side) in a car =
where=20
the steering wheel is also on the wrong side (i.e. on the right side). =
So,=20
the passenger's side of the car (i.e. the left side) is the "near side"=20
because it is the side nearest the curb. Hence, the driver's side is =
the=20
"off side," by default, as it 'twere, in a manner of speaking, don't you =
know, because afterall, one can't have a car with two "near sides" now, =
can=20
one? That sounds faguely anti-British, doesn't it? Instead of calling =
the=20
opposite of the "near" side the "far" side (like the cartoon), someone=20
called it the "off" side, but refused, categorically, to rename the =
"near"=20
side the "on" side. Hence, your confusion.
=20
This probably dates, as does almost everything in England, to the =
umpteenth=20
century and to which side of the carriage you alighted, as the saying =
goes. =20
Count on the English to devise a terminology that depends not upon =
absolutes=20
(like, say, the electron's orbital diameter in a hydrogen atom) but on =
your=20
community's convention for road manners.
=20
I hope this helps.
=20
Will "is it Friday yet?" Zehring
=20
Near side and off side are still current terms for anyone who rides. =
One mounts a horse from the near side (or left: they are trained not be =
spooked this way) and the off side is the side that one doesn't mount =
from (the right). Horses hooves are always referred to (bt the farrier) =
as the off-hind or the near-fore, and so on... Tom Britt
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