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nicbouyesterday at 8:46 AM4 repliesview on HN

In French, there is babord and tribord. The mnemonic is ba-tri, or “battery”.


Replies

Gazocheyesterday at 10:39 AM

Oh I didn't know this one. For me the mnemonic was " 'ba' has an 'a' like 'gauche' (left), and 'tri' has an 'i' like 'droite' (right)".

harperleeyesterday at 9:35 AM

In Spanish, it's babor and estribor. My personal mnemonic (me and most people being right-handed) is that the estribo (the stirrup, but I always though it was the reins - TIL) in a horse go on the right hand and the boba hand (the clumsy hand) is the left one.

sdoeringyesterday at 11:35 AM

In German it is Steuerbord und Backbord. And my mnemonic is the "r" in Steuerbord = the "r" in right hand side (when looking to the bow that is).

azepoiyesterday at 1:02 PM

Both likely come from (middle) dutch bakboord (the side of your back) facing the stierboord (the side with the steering oar) . Stierboord became estribord then tribord. Its more explicit in modern german and dutch.