In a conversation on reddit today someone asked if other languages have phrases like "rightie tightie, leftie loosie" to remember which way to turn screws/lids/etc. And one person answers that in Spanish, the phrase is:
"La derecha oprime, la izquierda libera."
or:
"The right oppresses, the left liberates."
(Now I kind of want to put this on a t shirt)
Honestly, "Rightie Tightie, Lefty Loosie" is terrible, because there is still ambiguity. Right from the top of the bolt, or the bottom of the bolt? From your face, or the bolt's face?
There is generally a better frame of reference: Clockwise (and Counter Clockwise), since it's defined already by a standard.
Thus is born, CCW = OFF, CW = ON (unless you have an infernal left-handed screw, but those are quite rare).
@leadore CW/CCW has one perspective issue (looking from the cap end, or the tip end/hole), whereas left/right has *two*: that one, plus whether you're looking at the lateral movement at the top or the bottom of the circle of motion.
I often get confused about the latter, but never the former, since I am almost always manipulating the screw from cap end, even if I'm looking at it from another angle.
@Dorythefish When the thumb moves towards the right, the pinky moves towards the left and vice versa - one has to know which part of the circle is being described by "left"/"right" - it's usually the top.
Thinking about rotation relative to a point *outside* the axis is not intuitive for everyone, hence the preference of some for CW/CCW, or the need for a mnemonic that specifies which part is left/right.
Sarah Becan
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DoryTheFish 🫂∞🌈🧡