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
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.
A droll factoid.
Huh, I always say links los, rechts rotsvast
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.
One mnemonic is to imagine yourself opening a jar.
Your door is a jar.
Is it a jar of jam or jelly?
I use the right hand rule - ball up your fist with your thumb sticking out, and turning in the direction of your fingers curling will result in the screw going the rest your thumb points.
Me learning this about electromagnetism: huh, neat.
Me learning this about something I actually use in day to day life: 🤯
It’s especially helpful when you’re looking at screws (or nuts!) from the back or any other weird frame of reference.
Right hand for right-handed threads and left hand for left-handed. If unsure, it’s most likely right-handed.
The assumption in this whole post is that it’s right-thread, since left is so uncommon.
Solang das Deutsche Reich besteht, wird die Schraube rechts gedreht.
And how are we supposed to turn screws nowadays?
I guess we’re screwed
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Wenn das der Kaiser wüsste!
Don’t you dare give them ideas
That’s a lot of extra words for lefty loosely, righty tighty.
If japanese has one, I’ve never heard it. Japanese wife hasn’t either. She was surprised it’s a thing. She saidaybe tradesmen might, but certainly nothing everyone knows
So when someone changes a light bulb, which direction to turn is just a feeling in their bones?
That’s fair.
Japanese usually just say 時計回り (clockwise) or counter-clockwise
saidaybe?
Probably a typo of “said maybe”
Or a typo of “you’re gonna be the one that saves me”
Though that’s admittedly somewhat less likely.
Though admittedlyafter all
Yes, very likely.
Just another instance where AI said fuck this, I ain’t correcting that today.
My dude, look at my post history. I actually noticed it and though “eh, I’ll fix it later” since my wife had finished her coffee and we wanted to free up a table for the people waiting at the cafe.
Yugunnabethawunthatsavemeee
Count it outer clockwise
Crank it right in?
Lefty righty, loosie tighty.
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.
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.
I could give you an example. In my kitchen we have a faucet with a detachable aerator. We detach it when we want to use a attachment for a garden hose. When attaching the aerator or the garden hose attachment, the threads are reversed. I might be wrong, but two opposing threads shouldn’t be able to screw into one another right?
Whut. Chaged my bathroom sink not long ago and it definitely loosens to the left/counter clock. Norway.
The reversed rule in plumbing is only for gas lines in the Netherlands.
Let’s start saying “rajtan-tajtan” as some weird anglicism?
Hahaha thats brilliant
I can easily imagine: “right is right left gets you / it left”
But not every language has the double meanings of right and left.
It depends which bicycle pedal you’re screwing in. They have opposite threads, designed where they’re self tightening on each side.
If I remember correctly, old timey glass kerosene lanterns also have backwards threads for some reason
Gas threads and water threads are opposites to each other for safety reasons. Might be part of that thought.
Please tell Tongshen, who manufactures the popular TSDZ2 motor. The pedal keeps coming loose because they don’t do this. I keep a key on me to tighten it when it starts to loosen.
Bottlescrews and turnbuckles both have one end threaded in each direction.
Exactly! Bicycle pedals have a left-hand thread on the left-hand side and “normal” threads on the right-hand side.
Same with gas regulators that attach to the cylinders, for some reason. Oo and some hub nuts on cars
I’ve heard flammable gas uses reverse (left hand) thread to prevent cross connection. At least for welding gases in NZ; not sure about natural gas.
Acetylene does, gas lines are standard pipe.
Suppose it’s cause natural gas runs at like, 1-3 psi, while a fresh tank of acetylene is 5,000?
Least in the US
Definitely nothing in Arabic AFAIK.
The Spanish version is my favourite: la derecha oprime y la izquierda libera (the right oppresses and the left liberates)
¡Gracias por la lección de español de hoy!
BASED
I think I saw that on reddit 2years ago, thank you for reminding me how’s the actual saying (I ~have adopted ever since I saw it, lol)
That’s awesome.
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
Oh wow that one is really good :D
I had never heard that before. Is that a region or country-specific thing?
Isn’t everything in Spanish?
Definitely not a common phrase. I’ve never heard of it (from Spain) and I just asked about 10 others from other countries and only one has. We usually would just say clockwise or counterclockwise
Holy shit, fucking hell, now this is some goddamn wordplay!
I’m stealing this like the fucking British Museum.
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.
It works for screws, but as a kid, I was never sure if the clock on the wall should be visualized attached to the ceiling or on the floor when saying “clockwise”. So I was always a bit hessitant on that.
If you mime tightening a bolt, your thumb moves to the right. And vise versa.
Am i weird if i tighten bolts by moving my fingers up/down intsead of side to side?
Left or right-handed?
Both. Odd that you would ask without trying it yourself.
With my left hand, my thumb starts facing right, and then sort of goes down and towards the left.
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.
I always railed against this. I’m using clockwise-lockwise from now on.
Nope. Polish doesn’t have one.
Neither does Czech.
Neither does Russian. We only share right-hand rule from physics.
Nothing in Slovak either. Slavs got srewed.
I never could remember until I was well in my 20s nd heard the righty tighty thing in HIMYM of all places
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. It’s 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?
There’s the fun police again
Not for screwing/unscrewing but in France we have a satire mnemonics 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
We got that one in Germany as well
What’s the phrase in French?
Not sure about the thumb one but for screws with only have:
- Visser : sens des aiguilles d’une montre (clockwise)
- Dévisser : sens contraire des aiguilles d’une montre (anti clockwise)
La main droite, c’est celle qui a le pouce à gauche
In English we’ll say, “Your other <right/left>”, depending on which direction the person is messing up.
I think that one is universal
Dad? Is that you ?
Are there lots of French who can’t easily tell left from right? I feel like one of the few sad Americans who can’t. Would love to know why. I always chalked it up to a lack of coordination.
I’d say as many as in other countries
