Talk:compass point

Robin Patterson 9 July 2005 00:47 (UTC)
 * 1) Is there really a dictionary preference for "north west" over "north-west"?
 * 2) In my acquaintance with the minor divisions, the word "by" didn't come in till the fourth level: "North by west" meant halfway between north and NNW (nor'nor'west).

Tenth Edition of Concise Oxford Dictionary confirms what I thought. "North-west" is listed; if "north west" were indeed the preferred expression, the COD would surely have mentioned it as the "meaning" of the hyphenated expression, or at least a variant; it doesn't. And "north by west" has the dictionary meaning I thought it had.

I may make appropriate changes if nobody produces documentary rebuttal soon.

Robin Patterson 00:31, 17 July 2005 (UTC)