As for Dr. H. Christian Blood, if he and his family have "heard them all," so to speak, I'm sure they're familiar with the Jack Kirby comic book character The Demon, who is connected to the immortal Jason Blood. As a comic book enthusiast, this is where my mind leapt when I heard the last name Blood. If they're not familiar with the character, then... how unfortunate.
Word usage does date you. Totally agree. I considered the words clockwise and counter-clockwise, now that we're into the age of digital timing. Seems like (except for the town hall clock, e.g., "Big Ben" and the like) these words might eventually lose their meaning.
Then I discovered a nifty little book called "Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise." Turns out that when mechanical clocks were first built, the decision about which direction to make them run was based on the movement of the shadow on a sundial.
Of course, that etymology would be lost on most people ... you'd have to be an astronomy geek to see the connection.
The whole time Christian Blood was talking about his name, and especially when he mentioned members of his family working in his father's office, I kept waiting for someone to make reference to "Blood brothers".
Heimhenge said:
Word usage does date you. Totally agree. I considered the words clockwise and counter-clockwise, now that we're into the age of digital timing. Seems like (except for the town hall clock, e.g., "Big Ben" and the like) these words might eventually lose their meaning.
Then I discovered a nifty little book called "Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise." Turns out that when mechanical clocks were first built, the decision about which direction to make them run was based on the movement of the shadow on a sundial.
Of course, that etymology would be lost on most people ... you'd have to be an astronomy geek to see the connection.
The shadow on a sundial moves counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere (or part of the year in the region between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer).
Emmett
Yes, but the technological revolution that gave us clocks arose in the northern hemisphere. Hence the "standard." Kinda' like the way the constellations were named ... northern hemisphere classical, southern hemisphere you have atrocities like Telescopium."