To go withershins means to travel in a direction contrary to the sun's course and is sometimes thought to be unlucky. Another meaning of withershins is anticlockwise.Withershins can also be wrtten as widdershins. I'm not sure which version I like best – do you have a preference?
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Hi Patsy - really interesting word ... either word would bemuse most of us! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteI’ve always said widdershins, not that I’ve had much purpose to use it. There’s a village near me called Nedderton although the road to it is called Netherton Lane, so the ‘th’ and ‘dd’ seem closely related in old English. Likewise the word mither (or moither) is pronounced as mider (or moider) depending on location. Fascinating, isn’t it?
ReplyDeleteWiddershins is how I see it spelled most often.
ReplyDeleteWitches were supposed to stir their cauldrons widdershins. I make porridge that way. Always stir anticlockwise.
ReplyDeletei like wither...
ReplyDeleteI like both versions of that word, Patsy.
ReplyDeleteGary
Definitely widdershins - I'm sure that's the version Pratchett used and anything else just seems wrong.
ReplyDelete@ Hilary – I think either version would either be undestood or not and in this case the spelling wouldn't much matter.
ReplyDelete@ Bea – It used to be common for words to have various spellings, didn't it? I'm not sure when or why we started considering only one to be correct.
@ Alex – I have seen it written, but can't recall with which spelling.
@ Lynne - would it be best if I remained tactfully silent?
@ Mac – but not withering, I imagine?
@ Gary – Maybe we could use them alternately, except we probably wouldn't use either frequently enough to remember which version we'd used last.
@ Bubble – That makes a difference. I'm not going to say TP is wrong.
Love this word! It has a dark edge to it!
ReplyDelete@ Mags – Yes, I think it does a bit.
ReplyDelete