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?
Did you leave a comment on this post to be in the draw for a paperback copy of Escape To The Country? You have until midnight to try.
10 comments:
Hi Patsy - really interesting word ... either word would bemuse most of us! Cheers Hilary
I’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?
Widdershins is how I see it spelled most often.
Witches were supposed to stir their cauldrons widdershins. I make porridge that way. Always stir anticlockwise.
i like wither...
I like both versions of that word, Patsy.
Gary
Definitely widdershins - I'm sure that's the version Pratchett used and anything else just seems wrong.
@ Hilary – I think either version would either be undestood or not and in this case the spelling wouldn't much matter.
@ 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!
@ Mags – Yes, I think it does a bit.
Post a Comment