North or South

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blazincajun

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Who was the person/people to decide that the north pole is north, and the south pole is south?<br /><br />I mean how do we know that the south pole isn't the north pole?<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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MeteorWayne

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That's a really good question!<br />Unfortunately I don't know the answer. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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telfrow

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According to Wiki:<i> The word north is traced to the Old High German nord, and the Proto-Indo-European unit ner-, meaning "left" (or "under"). (Presumably a natural primitive description of its concept is "to the left of the rising sun".)</i><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>
 
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derekmcd

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Taken from http://www.word-detective.com/120505.html<br /><br /><font color="orange">Dear Word Detective: What are the origins of the directions North, South, East and West? -- Clinton.<br /><br />That's a darn good question, and I'm surprised that someone hasn't asked it before now. On the other hand, I have been asked many, many times whether it is true that the word "news" comes from the initial letters of north, east, west and south. It isn't true. The English word "news" is simply a direct translation of the French "nouvelles," which the French use to mean both "new" and "current events."<br /><br />Beginning with "north," one runs smack into the big problem in defining directions: relative to what? The answer was the sun. The definition of "north" from the Oxford English Dictionary illustrates how it worked: "In the direction of the part of the horizon on the left-hand side of a person facing the rising sun." As our understanding of geophysics improved, criteria were added such as (also from the OED) "towards or in the direction of the point or pole on the earth's surface which lies on the earth's axis of rotation and at which the heavens appear to turn anticlockwise [i.e., counterclockwise] about a point directly overhead" and "towards the magnetic pole near this point, to which a compass needle points." But humanity couldn't wait for all that folderol, and the word "north" itself is thought to be rooted in the word for "left" in the ancient Umbrian language of Italy.<br /><br />"East" derives from the Indo-European root "aus," meaning "to shine," referring to the rising sun. The same root produced "aurora" in Latin and the Old English "Eastre," goddess of the dawn, whose name eventually was adopted as the Christian holiday Easter.<br /><br />"South" harks back to the Indo-European root "sunthaz," meaning "southward," probably based on "sunnon," meaning "in the region of the sun." This makes sense give</font> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div> </div><br /><div><span style="color:#0000ff" class="Apple-style-span">"If something's hard to do, then it's not worth doing." - Homer Simpson</span></div> </div>
 
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blazincajun

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Thanks<br />I guess why I ask that is what if the first person on Earth was located in South America, they would have thought that was north? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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MeteorWayne

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Based on those derivations, no, since the sun always rises in the east.<br /><br />The name for South might be different, though. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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derekmcd

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I believe there was a thread similar to this that evolved into discussion of how many places in the southern hemi-sphere create their maps with the south pole on the top of the map... <br /><br />Interesting to say the least. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div> </div><br /><div><span style="color:#0000ff" class="Apple-style-span">"If something's hard to do, then it's not worth doing." - Homer Simpson</span></div> </div>
 
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