closing tag is in template navbar
timefactors watches



TZ-UK Fundraiser
Results 1 to 20 of 20

Thread: Stupid question perhaps?!

  1. #1
    Journeyman
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    B'ham UK
    Posts
    64

    Stupid question perhaps?!

    Just occurred to me last night at O'dark hundred when I couldn't sleep -

    Why is a watch called a watch?
    I have a few half sensible theories but wondered if you chaps had a definitive answer for me. :?:

  2. #2
    Master
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    newcastle
    Posts
    3,579

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    Quote Originally Posted by Nuphoria
    Just occurred to me last night at O'dark hundred when I couldn't sleep -

    Why is a watch called a watch?
    I have a few half sensible theories but wondered if you chaps had a definitive answer for me. :?:
    a question only a WIS could ask :lol:

  3. #3
    Thomas Reid
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Oxford, UK
    Posts
    20,326

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    I definitely don't know. However, I hope that it is because they do the (timekeeping) work of the watch, i.e., those people who keep watch.

    Best wishes,
    Bob

  4. #4

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    No idea guys...difficult enogh is to know how something is said in english. In spanish, watch is reloj, derived from catalan relotge, derived from latin horologium.

  5. #5
    Journeyman
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    B'ham UK
    Posts
    64

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    Yes I thought it may have something to do with the military type keeping watch... good assumption.

    So am I am WIS then? Please explain what that means too! :lol:

  6. #6
    Master
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Dundee, Scotland
    Posts
    1,341

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    I think Bob has the right idea. The "watch", i.e. the night time patrols of town & cities would call out the time as they did their rounds, this being before clocks could be found in every house. Thus when a timepiece became available that would fit in your pocket it became known as a pocket watch as it was like being able to carry the "watch" around with you.

    All speculation and conjecture I'm afraid but it sounds right to me.

    Dave

  7. #7

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    Hi

    You should read the book "longitude" by Dava Sobel...

    ...the answer to your question lies in that very book.

    As a teaser read this wiki entry:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harrison

    Thanks
    deano

  8. #8
    Grand Master SimonK's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Paris, France
    Posts
    19,497

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    Here's what the online word origin dictionary has to say

    O.E. węcce "a watching," from węccan (see watch (v.)). Sense of "sentinel" is recorded from c.1300; that of "person or group officially patroling a town (esp. at night) to keep order, etc." is first recorded 1539. Meaning "period of time in which a division of a ship's crew remains on deck" is from 1585. Sense of "period into which a night was divided in ancient times" translates L. vigilia, Gk. phylake, Heb. ashmoreth.

    "The Hebrews divided the night into three watches, the Greeks usually into four (sometimes five), the Romans (followed by the Jews in New Testament times) into four." [OED]

    The meaning "small timepiece" is from 1588, developing from that of "a clock to wake up sleepers" (1440). Watchmaker is recorded from 1630; watchtower is attested from 1544.

  9. #9
    Master
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Dundee, Scotland
    Posts
    1,341

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    Quote Originally Posted by SimonK
    Sense of "sentinel" is recorded from c.1300; that of "person or group officially patroling a town (esp. at night) to keep order, etc."

    The meaning "small timepiece" is from 1588, developing from that of "a clock to wake up sleepers" (1440).
    So I wasn't that far away, amazingly. Think I'll award myself another beer. :)

  10. #10
    Journeyman
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Norway
    Posts
    85

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    Quote Originally Posted by Panofsky
    Quote Originally Posted by SimonK
    Sense of "sentinel" is recorded from c.1300; that of "person or group officially patroling a town (esp. at night) to keep order, etc."

    The meaning "small timepiece" is from 1588, developing from that of "a clock to wake up sleepers" (1440).
    So I wasn't that far away, amazingly. Think I'll award myself another beer. :)
    Good call! :thumbright: I'll drink a beer on your behalf.

  11. #11
    Journeyman
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    B'ham UK
    Posts
    64

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    Beers all round for you boys I think. That answer will do for me now but no-one has told me what a WIS is yet?!

  12. #12
    Grand Master Dave E's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Buckingham, UK
    Posts
    17,344

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    Quote Originally Posted by Nuphoria
    Beers all round for you boys I think. That answer will do for me now but no-one has told me what a WIS is yet?!
    Watch Idiot Savant :)
    Dave E

    Skating away on the thin ice of a new day

  13. #13
    Journeyman
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    B'ham UK
    Posts
    64

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    Oh, thank you.

    I take it as a compliment then. I'm known as clever-stupid by my OH already :?

  14. #14
    Grand Master Dave E's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Buckingham, UK
    Posts
    17,344

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    Quote Originally Posted by Nuphoria
    Oh, thank you.

    I take it as a compliment then. I'm known as clever-stupid by my OH already :?
    Used all over by watch collectors :) Just means we know too much about watches, probably at the expense of other stuff...
    Dave E

    Skating away on the thin ice of a new day

  15. #15
    Master studs's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    NE Scotland
    Posts
    1,061

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    Quote Originally Posted by Nuphoria
    Oh, thank you.

    I take it as a compliment then. :?
    Not really, it's an affliction and a curse, but you're in good company :)

  16. #16
    Journeyman
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    B'ham UK
    Posts
    64

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    Yes, definitely to the detriment of other things... I should be walking the dogs right now instead of "playing with my watch boyfriends"
    :D

  17. #17
    Grand Master abraxas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    London
    Posts
    33,737

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    Quote Originally Posted by angeche
    No idea guys...difficult enogh is to know how something is said in english. In spanish, watch is reloj, derived from catalan relotge, derived from latin horologium.
    Which was derived from the Greek, hora+logos = tells time

    Quote Originally Posted by SimonK
    .........

    The meaning "small timepiece" is from 1588, developing from that of "a clock to wake up sleepers" (1440).
    The word clock means bell in German.

    john
    "Owning one is almost as satisfying as making one." ~ Rolex 1973

  18. #18
    Master KavKav's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Warwickshire.
    Posts
    7,039
    Blog Entries
    5

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sigurd
    Quote Originally Posted by Panofsky
    Quote Originally Posted by SimonK
    Sense of "sentinel" is recorded from c.1300; that of "person or group officially patroling a town (esp. at night) to keep order, etc."

    The meaning "small timepiece" is from 1588, developing from that of "a clock to wake up sleepers" (1440).
    So I wasn't that far away, amazingly. Think I'll award myself another beer. :)
    Good call! :thumbright: I'll drink a beer on your behalf.
    What Sigurd said!

  19. #19
    Grand Master seikopath's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    N/A
    Posts
    29,758

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    why is a 710 called a 710?
    Good luck everybody. Have a good one.

  20. #20
    Master lysanderxiii's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    N 28 deg, 31' 18.4902 W80 deg 33' 40.035"
    Posts
    6,020

    Re: Stupid question perhaps?!

    710

    Based on a joke.

    A woman goes into a auto parts store and asks for a "710" cap for her car. The people don't know what she's talking about until she writes it down on a sheet of paper.

    (Try it and then flip it around as if you were at a counter and the person across the counter wrote it.)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Do Not Sell My Personal Information