Cardinal Direction - Order of Directions

Order of Directions

This section requires expansion.

While the directions can be listed in any order, most formally in clockwise or counterclockwise order, starting from some point (such as NESW, or, following the sun from daybreak in the northern hemisphere, ESWN), different languages conventionally use different orders, often using pairs of opposite directions. In English, the conventional order of the directions is "north, south, east, and west" (NSEW = N/S + E/W). In Japanese, most common is EWSN (東西南北 = E/W + S/N), and east-west (東西) is idiomatic for “everywhere, in all parts”; Japan is located at the extreme east of Eurasia.

Read more about this topic:  Cardinal Direction

Famous quotes containing the words order and/or directions:

    “The first sentence of every novel should be: “Trust me, this will take time but there is order here, very faint, very human.” Meander if you want to get to town.”
    —Michael Ondaatje (b. 1943)

    “The cannon thunders ... limbs fly in all directions ... one can hear the groans of victims and the howling of those performing the sacrifice ... it’s Humanity in search of happiness.”
    —Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)