Talk:point of the compass

I have never used this expression in English, I always use and mostly hear "compass point". This seems like a translation from a Romance language to me. Hippietrail 11:31, 6 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Please make a new entry for compass point. I didn't know that existed. The disadvantage of having entries made by non native English speakers. Polyglot 12:52, 6 Feb 2004 (UTC)


 * I've heard "points of the compass" (plural) to refer to all the points collectively. But don't recall ever hearing the phrase used in the singular. "Compass point" (or just "point", if it's unambiguous) is used in that case. -- Ortonmc 16:11, 6 Feb 2004 (UTC)

point of the compass
I'm not really into what goes as "sum of parts" and not, but for me this really looks like a noun being the sum of its parts. --Eivind (t) 15:55, 29 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Huh? It's not a literal sharp point on a drawing compass; it's one of the 16 cardinal directions marked on a navigational compass.  The definition could certainly be improved, but it's not merely SoP. --EncycloPetey 16:44, 29 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I would agree .... except that we already have compass point. How about a redirect, if you don't want to delete? -- Algrif 16:48, 29 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, no-one said "point" is a "sharp point". "Compass point" is one of the definitons for "point", therefore I reckoned "point of the compass" must be the sum of its parts. --Eivind (t) 16:57, 29 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Once one is talking about a compass, then isn't the specific sense of "point" obvious and, therefore, isn't it SoP? DCDuring TALK 17:19, 29 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Either keep as is or redirect to compass point. You can’t translate point of the compass into other languages simply by the individual words, you have to look up the specific phrase (or compass point). —Stephen 17:27, 29 July 2008 (UTC)


 * To answer DCDuring's "point". :-) It is useful to distinguish the various meanings of N,S,E, and W. They can be geographical, magnetic, or compass points(for instance). So, although your argument is thought provokingly good, the term compass point is still needed, as there are situations where the compass has not been mentioned. However, I am behind you all the way if we are talking about point of the compass -- Algrif 18:00, 29 July 2008 (UTC)


 * delete or redirect (it's not a set phrase in the way that compass point is). Ƿidsiþ 12:49, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

redirect or keep. Point does mean 'a direction,' as in a 'point of sail,' but it's usage appears to be extremely rare in English outside of idiomatic usages. Yartrebo 02:20, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

No one seems to disagree with a redirect, so done. 72.177.113.91 21:08, 4 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Someone should've though. undone. This could be kept as a set phrase, it does no harm. Conrad.Irwin 21:18, 4 February 2009 (UTC)


 * We do redirect for some idiomatic expressions, e.g. my/your in place of one's. I don't actually agree with the redirect here, it just seemed to be the consensus. 72.177.113.91 05:39, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

Redirect. —Ruakh TALK 03:28, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

This is definitely not the sort of thing we usually redirect, but the people have spoken: Algrif, SGB, Widsith, Yartrebo, and Ruakh all agree to redirect, whereas only Conrad opposes (and 72.177.113.91 abstains/opposes). (EP and EivindJ and DCDuring did not specifically address the idea of redirecting.) Redirecting.—msh210 ℠  21:11, 3 June 2009 (UTC)