OT: Translate for Digital Age

[Guerri Stevens]

How would you translate this expression for those who have never seen any non-digital timekeeping devices:

"who has your six".

-- Guerri

[Johnb - co.uk]

Guerri

That is not an expression that I have ever heard so I guess it is (as you indicate) clock-face based meaning that you can cover your front but that you need someone to cover your back, if so then such an explanation  - without the clock face but still based on the circle of the world in which we live - should be good enough

Of course, if that isn't what it means then I am wasting my time!

JohnnyB

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Dixonary" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to dixonary+u...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dixonary/acd8a0d7-1484-92f6-fe83-4c04e18554cf%40guerristevens.com.

Virus-free. www.avg.com

[Efrem G Mallach]

You mean that this person has never seen an analog clock in a church or any other steeple, at a railroad station, at the back of a classroom, on a kitchen wall, anywhere at all? And has no concept of twelve o'clock being at the top, one a bit to the right, and so on? I know we're in the digital age, but even my eleven-year-old grandchildren (not twins, two sons whose wives happened to get pregnant around the same time) get this stuff. 

Efrem

[Judy M.]

My cousin, a former high school teacher, told me she had a student who thought that a quarter past the hour meant 25 after!

Judy

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dixonary/D1840117-669E-4B25-8E34-55C56735C032%40verizon.net.

[Efrem G Mallach]

Fractions aside, I bet even that student knew that four o'clock is a bit down from due right.

e

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dixonary/CAPE3SXRuOVXdFj3MhRg7ayfra7fRnAKXtrNWEQE6hFzGYdmfxA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Judy M.]

Maybe. 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dixonary/F07B407F-D612-455E-B82F-CFA64C6A752C%40verizon.net.

[Tim B]

> "who has your six".

I'm with Johnny; I've never heard this. Why not just "Who has your back?" It's no longer.

Best wishes,
Tim Bourne.

[Ryan McGill]

I'd never heard that construction until a couple years ago, when it got rather popular due to a military-related marketing campaign. I saw it recently in a trailer for some movie, as well, but I don't remember which one. The joke in the trailer was essentially asking the same thing you are: how do you keep that idiom relevant?

Even so, I've only heard the concept voiced as a declaration, not a question: "I've got your back," or "I've got your six," as opposed to "who's got."

And I strongly prefer an analogue face clock, and I've made a point of trying to teach the kids in my sphere how to navigate that, for what it's worth. Some cotton to the concepts better than others, but we're not guaranteed a digital world forever, so may as well.

[Daniel B. Widdis]

The idiom "on your six" is probably the original that the question/statement derived from, and indeed is clock-face based.  "Who's got your back?" is probably a good translation.

This site gives a good summary of clock-face terminology: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/352283/usage-and-origin-of-clock-position-expressions

To save you the trouble of reading, the origin of the term is primarily associated with the the need to relay relative position to someone over the radio, and probably came in with aircraft in WW I.  

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Dixonary" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to dixonary+u...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dixonary/94056d66-5c44-4960-9deb-77d3cbcf96e9%40googlegroups.com.

[Christopher Carson]

It means who’s watching your back. I think it’s derived from WW II fighter pilot lingo that used the  clock face to locate enemy aircraft (bandits at 12 o’clock high).

Chris

Sent from my iPad

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dixonary/D1840117-669E-4B25-8E34-55C56735C032%40verizon.net.

[Efrem G Mallach]

I think we all know what it means. Given our ages, we know how it relates to a clock face, and I think many of us associate its origin with fighter pilots. However, the original question was not 'What is its origin?", but  "How do you explain its origin to someone who has no exposure to analog clocks with hands?" I still haven't seen a good answer to that one.

I don't see an alternative to showing that youngster a picture of, say, Big Ben, and explaining how people used to tell time. Is there a better way?

Efrem

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dixonary/MWHPR19MB1583AEEF95E7137084B2005AAEAA0%40MWHPR19MB1583.namprd19.prod.outlook.com.

[Tim Lodge]

As an ex-miltary aviator, the expression "who has your six" makes perfect sense to me, although I must say I don't remember hearing it during my service career.  We certainly used to say "watch your six" in a non-flying context, meaning "look behind you". 

In a fast jet battle formation (I'm talking of more than 40 years ago now) members of the formation would be responsible for keeping watch over their fellow formation members' rear hemisphere, which is just about impossible to view from your own cockpit.  Hence we might say "I've got your six o'clock covered".

--  Tim L

[Christopher Carson]

I’m sure we all know what it means, but the question was how to translate the expressiion.  Showing a picture of a clock would be a good visual aid.  We have several analog clocks in the house, including one in the kitchen so hopefully our granddaughters (7 and 10) will be able tell time the old way.  If I’m not mistaken, one of their school exercises included analog clocks.  I would hope so anyway.

 

Chris

 

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

 

---

From: 'Efrem G Mallach' via Dixonary <dixo...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2019 9:56:56 PM
To: Dixonary <dixo...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Dixonary] OT: Translate for Digital Age

 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dixonary/B303043B-BC2F-44BE-8C23-71A81CA7A324%40verizon.net.

[Guerri Stevens]

Yes, it means having your back. And if you were standing in the middle of an old clock facing 12, six would be at your back.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dixonary/9b62a2f3-e469-c4b2-ab3e-59c139bfab99%40john-barrs.co.uk.

[Guerri Stevens]

I don't remember where I heard it. Probably in some book I was reading.