Aaah this is more like the AA of yore ... mercs working thru the night, me completely befuddled by the whole thing 
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Originally posted by mercia View PostThere in a nutshell, mercia. Another apparently uncrackable conundrum!are those the initial letters of forenames or surnames or neither? composers? performers?
does the 5 link specifically to the F, and the 6 and 7 each and only to the two Ms ?
Did you mean to leave the "of" out?Whenever I think certain works of 5 or 6 or 7, I get a G when I link them to F, M and another M.
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... well, I would certainly usually take it be so. However there is a curious ambiguity with this word: my OED provides two main definitions -Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
1. To the southward; in or towards the south; on the south side.
2. From the direction of the south
In the song the situation (to my mind) is made less clear by the second line:
Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly,
Blow the wind south o'er the bonny blue sea...
I would understand 'blow the wind south' as implying 'towards the south'.
Odd that with a word where clarity wd seem to be essential the English language is so very unclear!Comment
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It's the implied "to" and"from" that define the meaning.
But I agree it is misleading.
Like cloughie's clues...!
Pacta sunt servanda !!!Comment
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Initial letters of forenames of composers, not in any specific order.Originally posted by mercia View PostComment
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No, it was in appropriately!Originally posted by Flay View PostThere in a nutshell, mercia. Another apparently uncrackable conundrum!
Did you mean to leave the "of" out?Comment
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Francis Poulenc for the F ? no, probably Berwald.
Mikhail Glinka for an M ?Last edited by mercia; 22-04-12, 09:02.Comment
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Leave me out of this - but I would say that down here the prevailing South-westerly blows from the South-west. I don't agree that blow the wind south necessarily means to the south, however, it could mean from!Originally posted by Flay View PostIt's the implied "to" and"from" that define the meaning.
But I agree it is misleading.
Like cloughie's clues...!Comment
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I was using the (?"official"?) Met Office definition as given at the top of this:Originally posted by vinteuil View Post
... mind you, if their vocabulary is as accurate as their weather forecasts ...
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]Comment
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How on earth did you work that out?Originally posted by mercia View PostPacta sunt servanda !!!Comment
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... thanks, ferney. Like you and brother cloughie I would normally take 'southerly', 'south westerly' as meaning 'from' that direction; I was just amused to find that OED defines it as either 'to' or 'from' - where you might have thought the distinction could be critical! - and to my ears 'blow the wind south' certainly feels more southwards than otherwise...Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View PostI was using the (?"official"?) Met Office definition as given at the top of this:
... mind you, if their vocabulary is as accurate as their weather forecasts ...
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Veering - The changing of the wind direction clockwise, e.g. SW to W
Backing - The changing of the wind in the opposite direction to veering (anticlockwise), e.g. SE to NE
At last I understand what they have been saying on the forecast for all those years! <doh>Pacta sunt servanda !!!Comment
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I suppose the convention developed because of the wind blowing in the sailor's face - he would be facing the direction it was coming fromOriginally posted by vinteuil View Post... thanks, ferney. Like you and brother cloughie I would normally take 'southerly', 'south westerly' as meaning 'from' that direction; I was just amused to find that OED defines it as either 'to' or 'from' - where you might have thought the distinction could be critical! - and to my ears 'blow the wind south' certainly feels more southwards than otherwise...Pacta sunt servanda !!!Comment
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