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Re: translation exercises:1

coi

> Is "turn the screw to the left" an Americanism?

There is the same convention in Russian at least. And I belive it is NOT
arbitrary - "turn the screw to the left" means "turn the screw in the same
direction you turn you own body when you turn yourself to the left". Of course
this assumes that screw axis has some natural orientation that is more or less
parallel to your own axis natural orientation.

But I remember when I was a child it was very difficult to learn what does it
mean "turn something to the left" - it was age when I already knew where my
left hand is. And till now I prefer "anti-clockwise"... So I belive it's not
only international convention, but also international difficulty... :-)

co'o mi'e kir
--
Cyril Slobin <slobin@fe.msk.ru> `When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said,
<http://www.fe.msk.ru/~slobin/> `it means just what I choose it to mean'