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this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2023
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No Stupid Questions
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"Sunwise", and for the exact same reason.
Clocks go clockwise because their predecessors did. What were their predecessors?
Sundials.
How does the shadow go around a sundial? Well, sunwise, of course.
Counterclockwise, as said in another comment, was "widdershins", from a Middle Low German phrase meaning "against the way".
You just made my brain click. I've always wondered why clockwise rotation around a vertical axis was commonly agreed. I have never seen a mechanical- or electrical clock installed flat on the ground. So why would we assume that the clock isn't in the ceiling facing down, which would reverse the direction?
But now that you mention it in the context of a sundial, it seems so obvious that the clock is just an extension of that, making the sun and clock a common reference.
But that bids the question if they have another term for it in the southern hemisphere.
It's been very difficult to find an answer for this, and I suspect it's because most of the southern hemisphere is water, and most of the rest of it was colonised by people from the northern hemisphere. As of right now, I couldnt say if there simply weren't words for that kind of rotational motion or if my google-fu simply isn't strong enough.
The best answer I've been able to find is from Indonesia, which is equatorial. The word "sunwise" translates into a phrase "from left to right" via Google Translate, but that may just be an artifact of machine translation.
I didn't even consider equatorial countries. That's interesting as well. Depending on the season, the literal "sunwise direction" would change, while spring- and autumn equinox wouldn't translate to any rotation around a vertical axis.
I used to be a swing dance instructor, and describing rotation as "to the left" or "to the right" always seemed a bit more natural and understandable for the general participant.