# Confusing east and west **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 7, 2026, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478 "2026-07-07T04:15:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/21 "2026-07-07T14:58:29Z")
I’m sure there are plenty of people confused about why North Carolina is in the South. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/22 "2026-07-07T15:00:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Also, when I’ve visited Chicago, I’ve always gotten North and East mixed up. That one’s more straightforward: Growing up in Cleveland, I have it hard-coded into my brain that the direction towards the lake is north. I’ve told this story before, but my late wife grew up in Tucson. Which is in a large valley in the desert bounded by 4 distinct mountains / ranges roughly in the 4 cardinal directions. Each a different shape and distance away. But all readily visible and uniquely identifiable from anywhere in the mostly barren, mostly flat, low-rise city. Which made getting around the mostly rectilinear street grid of Tucson pretty easy & instinctive. Before we got married I lived in Las Vegas. A similar desert valley surrounded by 4 distinct mountains / ranges also of varying shape and distance. But generally closer-in than Tucson’s. And with a similar mostly rectilinear street grid in a mostly flat and then low-rise city. (minus the high rise Strip) We get married, she moves in with me, and simply cannot avoid getting lost while driving. This was long before GPS devices. We eventually diagnose the problem. The 4 mountain ranges each have a rough visual counterpart in the other city. But if Tucson’s are ordered NESW, the visually corresponding ones in Vegas are (IIRC) ENSW. So sorta upside down & twisted sideways with no easy rotational transformation. She eventually got good at Vegas navigation, but more from learning the roads and learning to ignore the mountains. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/23 "2026-07-07T15:00:37Z")
If only I had that excuse! I pay no attention whatsoever to the sun. My last house AND my current house, the sun comes streaming directly into my bedroom and wakes me up far too early. Can I remember that that direction is east? Not for the life of me. Even though I know perfectly well that the sun rises in the east and stays that direction of me until true noon. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/24 "2026-07-07T15:09:41Z")
You need to work on your magnetoreception > **[Magnetoreception | In mammals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetoreception#In_mammals)** > > Some mammals are capable of magnetoreception. When woodmice are removed from their home area and deprived of visual and olfactory cues, they orient towards their homes until an inverted magnetic field is applied to their cage. When the same mice are allowed access to visual cues, they are able to orient themselves towards home despite the presence of inverted magnetic fields. This indicates that woodmice use magnetic fields to orient themselves when no other cues are available. The magnetic s or at least discerning polarized light > **[Haidinger's brush](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haidinger%27s_brush)** > > Haidinger's brush, more commonly known as Haidinger's brushes is an image produced by the eye, an entoptic phenomenon, first described by Austrian physicist Wilhelm Karl von Haidinger in 1844. Haidinger saw it when he looked through various minerals that polarized light. Many people are able to perceive polarization of light. Haidinger's brushes may be seen as a yellowish horizontal bar or bow-tie shape (with "fuzzy" ends, hence the name "brush") visible in the center of the visual field against ... ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/25 "2026-07-07T15:11:24Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > But also, there was a recent thread about mahjong. It is really simple: the dealer is always seated East. The player to the right of the dealer is South. Across from the dealer is West, and the player to the left of the dealer is North. Play proceeds East → South → West → North. Same for dealing the tiles, but do not forget to draw them proceeding clockwise, obviously. I feel like this has left-right error. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/26 "2026-07-07T15:14:47Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > But also, there was a recent thread about mahjong. It is really simple: the dealer is always seated East. The player to the right of the dealer is South. Are you sure you have that right? > [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’ve told this story before, but my late wife grew up in Tucson. Which is in a large valley in the desert bounded by 4 distinct mountains / ranges roughly in the 4 cardinal directions. Each a different shape and distance away. But all readily visible and uniquely identifiable from anywhere in the mostly barren, mostly flat, low-rise city. Which made getting around the mostly rectilinear street grid of Tucson pretty easy & instinctive. What’s interesting to me is that, in Cleveland, my sense of direction is (usually) pretty good, because I have an intuitive sense of which way the Lake is. Outside of Cleveland, though, it varies wildly. In Chicago, my sense of direction works and is always wrong, because I can still tell which way the lake is, except the lake is in the wrong place. At my grandparents’ house (far from any major bodies of water), it also worked, but was also wrong. In Philadelphia, my sense of direction just didn’t work, at all: I had no sense, right or wrong, of what any direction was. But in Bozeman, MT, where the dominant geographical features are mountains, not lakes (the nearest and most prominent range to the NE, and the next-most-prominent to the SE), my sense of direction worked again, and was correct. I’ve since come to the conclusion that my lake-sense is actually an awareness of which way the ground is sloping, where “towards the lake” is actually “downhill”. In both Bozeman and at my grandparents’ house, the direction I sensed as north was mostly downhill, and Philadelphia is pretty flat. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/27 "2026-07-07T15:45:27Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > [“Krakatoa East of Java”](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064555/) has always been a thorn in my side. > > Setting aside “Krakatoa” (it is “Krakatau”), the volcano in question was _west_ of Java. From 5 years ago: > [@Your geographical misconceptions](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/656): > > > [@Your geographical misconceptions](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/655): > > > > Krakatoa is actually west of Java, not _[East of Java](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa,_East_of_Java)_ . > > Well sure, _after_ it blew up ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/28 "2026-07-07T16:13:12Z")
I have a terrible sense of direction, but at least I knew where east and west were when we lived in Alaska and Portland. The Midwest is so bland that I have no idea what is where other than I-94. In the military, I always gave the compass to someone else when we were doing map-and-compass drills. I can get lost in a large building, and possibly even in a large bathroom. Did I turn left into the parking lot? Well, I’ll more than likely turn left leaving the parking lot and end up having to turn around. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/29 "2026-07-07T16:17:54Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Apparently left/right and east/west confusion affects women more often than men. I assume that this is also related to the fact that men handle spatial orientation and things like geometric rotation better than women (on average). I’ve only observed men mixing up east and west online, no women. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/30 "2026-07-07T16:23:52Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > So Bob Hope was right? > > “East is east, and west is west, and the wrong one I have chose.” That’s quite wrong. Should be “I have chosen.” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/31 "2026-07-07T16:38:37Z")
Or why [West, Texas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West,_Texas) is in East Texas. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/32 "2026-07-07T16:42:37Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > That’s quite wrong. > > Should be “I have chosen.” Only if you want to be wearing buttons and bowsen. At the risk of being whooshed, I was quoting the old song “Buttons and Bows.” ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/33 "2026-07-07T16:46:35Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I have _never_ see anyone confuse north and south. This says something about our brains and bilateral symmetry. I grew up living on the north side of my hometown, so the downtown area was south. Now I live south of the downtown area, and my brain refuses to accept this. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/34 "2026-07-07T16:51:46Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I’m sure there are plenty of people confused about why North Carolina is in the South. North Carolina has many Southern traditions, but it’s not the Deep South. South Carolina is. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/35 "2026-07-07T17:13:02Z")
I’ve also seen folks arguing that Arizona or New Mexico is in the South. Geographically, maybe, but not culturally. It’s also been said that, in Florida, the further north you get, the more south you are. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/36 "2026-07-07T17:23:08Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/37 "2026-07-07T17:27:28Z")
This? > [@LSLGuy](#): > > The person in the East chair is facing west and the person to their left is sitting in the South chair facing north. Or this? > [@DPRK](#): > > But also, there was a recent thread about mahjong. It is really simple: the dealer is always seated East. The player to the right of the dealer is South. Emphasis added to both quotes. On edit: looks like you discovered the same left-right error others have. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/38 "2026-07-07T17:29:59Z")
You caught me before I realized my error. 🙂 Yeah, you’re right and DPRK goofed. I think. Maybe Chinese folks label stuff even stranger than we know. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/39 "2026-07-07T17:34:40Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Now I live south of the downtown area, and my brain refuses to accept this. Whereas about two-thirds of Brooklyn is south of [South Brooklyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Brooklyn). (And at least a third of Boston is south of [South Boston](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Boston) - not to be confused with the South End.) ---
**Author:** ![a6ka97](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@a6ka97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a6ka97)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478/40 "2026-07-07T17:52:36Z")
When younger I had issues with left and right. Now that I am married the old saying “lefty lovey, righty flighty” about which finger a ring is on cleared that up. Stage left/right, and working on a vehicle (left side of car vs. the left side of the engine) still makes me pause and think for a moment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-east-and-west/1031478.md?page=3)