Frazz by Jef Mallett for December 14, 2016

Does the mean they kept the port on the other side of the ship, away from the driver?

Read comics and get an education!

I don’t know where he got that info, the ship would always come to dock on the left side, – port side, and the stars were seen better on non-city side, starboard side.

In France it comes from the word ‘batterie’ (gun battery). Babord is port, or left (Ba-board), Tribord is starboard, or right (terie-board). I wonder what the words are and their origin in other languages.

In Portuguese it is “estibordo” (also derived from steerboard) and “bombordo”. Bombordo means “good side”. When portuguese ships sailed south along the African coast the land side was the good one…

Wikipedia agrees with Mr Mallett. Possibly because he or someone else just edited the page ;-)

To ErikC: Ships and boats of all sizes use that system to avoid collisions. Does that fly with cars? Usually the next car is behind you, so crossing paths is not a problem. Red left turn signal would warn approaching cars to be cautious. Of course, we are so accustomed to yellow signals now, any change would be disastrous, but it is fun to wonder.

You learn something new every day!

The French “babord” and “tribord” come from Dutch “bakboord” (back-board) and “stierboord” (steer-board), which was originally “estribord” in French.

Spanish “babor” and “estribor” come from the French.

The Oxford English Dictionary explains “port”: “When the steering apparatus was on the right side of the vessel, the vessel when in port would normally be placed so as to lie with her left side alongside the quay. Any opening to allow entry or loading would also have to be on this side.”

This is why I didn’t join the Navy.

You can read Moby Dick for the same explanation from the 1850’s.

I must be too dense this morning without my coffee…. I do not get the joke today. Why is the young girl appreciative of Frazz’s definition because she is “stubborn”? If anyone would care to explain, I would be appreciative.

I had some questions of my own along these lines — specifically why red and green when there are many other colors. It seems that these colors are particularly easy to see in various light levels. Producing the colored glass for these is also simpler than others (except for blue — but a blue light would be easy to lose against the ocean or sky). So then my next question (still unanswered) was why did each color come to represent the action associated (red=stop/avoid)? Still haven’t found a definitive answer to that.I remember an early episode of the TV series “Quantum Leap”, which had the protagonist ‘leaping’ into various alternate timelines. This one had green traffic lights for stop (or maybe it was red for go). However, the producers missed some details, as car tail lights were still red, as well as a corner stop sign.

Honestly, I’d have to look up which side starboard and port are, much to the chagrin of my wife who’s sailed her whole life.

It used to be “starboard” and “larboard”, not “port”. Frazz’s version fits that pretty well.

Not just a Navy thing: controlling fighter aircraft for the U.S. Air Force in the sixties, turns were given as port or starboard while bearing to targets given as left or right. Mostly so an overburdened pilot wouldn’t accidentally mistake one for the other.

Frzze seems to me like a grownup, mellowed out Calvin. He has his goals, not making mayhem, but rewarding and things he likes. Amongst the schools all over the world, the USA is the only one who puts so much emphasis on sport. exchange students consider our schools easy.We had an exchange student years ago.We didn’t asked for one, his original "parents"in America kicked him out and we alway were taking in misfit kids.It was am opportunity to get to know and help,if we could, kids that were more interesting than the ordinary.

gendotte

I only saw one on the streets and found it helpful especially in stop-snd-go traffic. Some state outlawed them for no known reason and they were then frowned upon elsewhere. It was an after-market accessory. If one of the manufacturers had come up with it, it would probably be mandatory today.

I can’t believe nobody else commented on this, so I had to create an account just to say this:“If the King James Bible was good enough for St Paul, it’s good enough for me!”That’s the winking reference in the last panel. The quote has nebulous attribution to several preachers and politicians in the USA.