Saturday, November 03, 2007
Spring forward, fall back???
I have often wondered if Americans, alone in the English speaking world, say the last letter of the alphabet as ‘zee’ because of the ‘abc’ song. Let’s face it, ‘zed’ doesn’t rhyme with ‘vee’!
Similarly, I have wondered about the season which we in the UK and elsewhere know as Autumn. Yes, I know leaves fall from trees, and I certainly presumed the name Fall to be attributed to this. But there is this little slogan to remember which way to change clocks in Spring and Autumn – a constant source of confusion for many people I have known elsewhere, but people here seem to have no such problem. Spring forward, Fall back. What if the name Fall is because you can’t come up with a memorable slogan using the word Autumn, and my original presumption was wrong all along!
But last night, another thought came to me: Fall back? The only time people ever fall backwards is if they skid on something very slippery, like ice. I have no idea of the percentages, but I would wager that a large majority of falls are in fact, forward! I decided to follow my thought process. What of springs? If I sit on sprung chair, or lay on a spring mattress, what do the springs do when I stand up? They spring BACK – not forward. So correctly, the slogan should be Spring back, Fall forward. However, this wouldn’t mean anything to anyone, including me! It certainly wouldn’t help anyone remember which direction to change their clocks! So, although this well known slogan which people entirely take for granted, is actually the reverse of the way things work, I propose that we keep it!
(Afterthought: Spring up, fall down, anybody? Maybe doesn't have the same ring, but at least it holds up under examination!)
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Similarly, I have wondered about the season which we in the UK and elsewhere know as Autumn. Yes, I know leaves fall from trees, and I certainly presumed the name Fall to be attributed to this. But there is this little slogan to remember which way to change clocks in Spring and Autumn – a constant source of confusion for many people I have known elsewhere, but people here seem to have no such problem. Spring forward, Fall back. What if the name Fall is because you can’t come up with a memorable slogan using the word Autumn, and my original presumption was wrong all along!
But last night, another thought came to me: Fall back? The only time people ever fall backwards is if they skid on something very slippery, like ice. I have no idea of the percentages, but I would wager that a large majority of falls are in fact, forward! I decided to follow my thought process. What of springs? If I sit on sprung chair, or lay on a spring mattress, what do the springs do when I stand up? They spring BACK – not forward. So correctly, the slogan should be Spring back, Fall forward. However, this wouldn’t mean anything to anyone, including me! It certainly wouldn’t help anyone remember which direction to change their clocks! So, although this well known slogan which people entirely take for granted, is actually the reverse of the way things work, I propose that we keep it!
(Afterthought: Spring up, fall down, anybody? Maybe doesn't have the same ring, but at least it holds up under examination!)
