I can never remember the difference between...

[Raiders Army]

right and left politics. Is the right conservative and the left liberal?

port and starboard. Is port right and starboard left?




Does anyone else have difficulty differentiating two things which mean opposite sides and can't remember which is which?

[JonInMiddleGA]

I can't get port & starboard right consistently -- I think port is left, because occasionally there's a reference to a "portsider" aka lefty reliever ... but I don't always think of that example when I need it.

[Coffee Warlord]

Port is indeed left.

[Glengoyne]

Port is left. It is shorter than starboard, with only four letters. Left is shorter than right, and it also has only four letters. Thats how I used to remember, and probably still how I subconsciously translate port and starboard.

Left v Right for politics. Hmm Remember that the West Coast when you look at a map is the left coast. The New Yorkers are liberal in their own right, but over here on the left coast even the moderate liberals are somewhat to the left of the salad fork.


That salad fork bit is a George Will line. I've been trying to work it in for months.

[TredWel]

Left = Liberal
Right = Republican

[Raiders Army]

Ah...many thanks. I will never mess these up again.

[MIJB#19]

Well duh, there is no difference.
The USA has no left and right politics.
It's all right wing stuff.

[WSUCougar]

Port is also referred to as "larboard" (L-word = left), if that helps any.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Icant tell the difference between butter and I cant believe its not butter.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Port is also referred to as "larboard" (L-word = left), if that helps any.

Y'know, I never thought about it before, but the only place I can recall ever hearing "larboard" used (other than this thread of course) is on the Pirates of the Carribean attraction at WDW. "Show 'em ye larboard side dearie" is said to the redhead at the bride auction.

[Raiders Army]

Also, FWIW, righty-tighty and lefty-loosey doesn't always work. I tried to turn on the water for our outdoor hose at my dad's, but it didn't work. My brother told me that valve didn't work that way. He was right.

[Warhammer]

The easy way to remember is right = correct = conservative politics

[Karlifornia]

Radical->Liberal->Moderate->Conservative->Reactionary

[aran]

The easy way to remember is right = correct = conservative politics

heh. Left -> left out in the cold -> liberals?

[TredWel]

Well duh, there is no difference.
The USA has no left and right politics.
It's all right wing stuff.
It took me three or four reads of this before I realized it wasn't meant to be a haiku.

[BigJohn&TheLions]

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

[Telle]

The ship LEFT the PORT. That's how I was taught to remember it.

[Glengoyne]

Oh I thought of this thread when another thing that I have trouble keeping straight popped up.

Does a Left handed pitcher want to face a right haded batter, or does a right handed batter want to face a left handed pitcher?

I mean I know you want a lefty to face a lefty....but I can't remember which manager(batting or fielding team) has the advantage.

I usually work through it to come to a conclusion....but I'm hoping there is a better way.

[JeffR]

The easy way to remember is right = correct = conservative politics

Or, "Right is right, left is wrong."

[Klinglerware]

The easy way to remember is right = correct = conservative politics

Except in Communist & post-Soviet countries:

Conservative = Communist
Liberal = Reformist

Thusly, right = correct = traditional Marxist-Leninism

[Raiders Army]

Oh I thought of this thread when another thing that I have trouble keeping straight popped up.

Does a Left handed pitcher want to face a right haded batter, or does a right handed batter want to face a left handed pitcher?

I mean I know you want a lefty to face a lefty....but I can't remember which manager(batting or fielding team) has the advantage.

I usually work through it to come to a conclusion....but I'm hoping there is a better way.
Isn't this one opposites attract? You want a left handed pitcher facing right handed batters and vice versa. At least this is what I remember from Little League.

[Klinglerware]

Isn't this one opposites attract? You want a left handed pitcher facing right handed batters and vice versa. At least this is what I remember from Little League.

L batter , L pitcher = advantage pitcher
R batter, L picher = advantage hitter

I think it's the same for righties, but not as pronounced...

Edit: sidearming pitchers are especially vulnerable--conventional wisdom is that you try to stack the line-up with opposite-handed hitters when a sidearmer is pitching...

[Raiders Army]

Doh. Couldn't remember that one either I guess.

[Glengoyne]

L batter , L pitcher = advantage pitcher
R batter, L picher = advantage hitter

I think it's the same for righties, but not as pronounced...

Edit: sidearming pitchers are especially vulnerable--conventional wisdom is that you try to stack the line-up with opposite-handed hitters when a sidearmer is pitching...
So it would be safe to remember that the pitcher has the advantage against same sided hitters.

[WSUCougar]

Generally speaking (and there are many exceptions), as a hitter you don't want the ball raking across your body from the same-sided pitcher. You'll notice a lot of lefty vs. lefty specialists throw almost nothing but sliders because of that raking effect across the body.

Release-points are often harder to pick up from the same side, too.

[Craptacular]

Port vs Starboard:

Just remember port is left for a person facing the bow (front) of the ship. So, if you are standing on the front of the boat looking back towards the stern, and the captain tells you to look port, you should look to your right.

[Raiders Army]

Port vs Starboard:

Just remember port is left for a person facing the bow (front) of the ship. So, if you are standing on the front of the boat looking back towards the stern, and the captain tells you to look port, you should look to your right.
That's too hard. With this one you have to remember which way is port and stern. Heheh.

[Raven]

So it would be safe to remember that the pitcher has the advantage against same sided hitters.

Yes. You can also remember it by considering switch hitters. If a righty is on the mound, the switch hitter bats left so he won't be at a disadvantage, and vice versa.

[Huckleberry]

Port : boat : : driver's side : cars
Starboard : boat : : passenger's side : cars

You Aussies and Brits are on your own.