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In a message dated 12/14/03 7:08:34 AM, jrossedd@... writes:

<< This made me think of how to tell whether the moon is waxing or
waning, which I only heard as an adult and passed on to my kids, who enjoy
using it.
You look to see if the moon's visible curve is on the side that would outline
a little "d" for diminishing = waning) or a lower-case "b" for getting
"bigger." or waxing.
ACK! It occurs to me now that I never checked it, just assumed it was
correct. Does anyone know?
>>

???

It makes no sense to me.
It's English. Wan is sickly, waning is getting smaller, when someone's
interest is waning, it does NOT mean they want you to tell MORE stories like that
one (etc.)

Waxing, if you wax something, would add to it. But that's not the origin of
it.

I can't quote it here because of the Greek and Anglo Saxon letters, but here:

http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE28.html


It's related (LONG long ago) to augment, and august: to increase, and to be
big/majestic.

Sandra

Michelle Watts

I thought it was just me, and I could not figure out the first explanation. Sandra, yours does make a lot more sense. It is logical!! No silly dittys to remember.

Michelle

SandraDodd@... wrote:


It makes no sense to me.
It's English. Wan is sickly, waning is getting smaller, when someone's
interest is waning, it does NOT mean they want you to tell MORE stories like that
one (etc.)

Waxing, if you wax something, would add to it. But that's not the origin of
it.



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[email protected]

Sorry, I wasn't asking about the origin of the words waxing and
waning. I was suddenly struck by the thought that the "science" might not be right,
and I could have passed along a "wrong fact" to my children.

Didn't mean to annoy anyone whose interest was waning (or to wane on
the list's parade?? <g>) JJ




> << This made me think of how to tell whether the moon is waxing or
> waning, which I only heard as an adult and passed on to my kids, who enjoy
> using it.
> You look to see if the moon's visible curve is on the side that would
> outline
> a little "d" for diminishing = waning) or a lower-case "b" for getting
> "bigger." or waxing.
> ACK! It occurs to me now that I never checked it, just assumed it was
>
> correct. Does anyone know?
> >>
>
> ???
>
> It makes no sense to me.
> It's English. Wan is sickly, waning is getting smaller, when someone's
> interest is waning, it does NOT mean they want you to tell MORE stories like
> that
> one (etc.)
>
> Waxing, if you wax something, would add to it. But that's not the origin of
>
> it.
>



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catherine aceto

I've never heard that device, but from the post I thought that the point was to tell whether the moon was in the process of getting bigger or smaller (i.e., where in the lunar month you are) -- not what the words "wax" and "wane" mean, which you have to know in order for the memory device (of wax = b) and (wane = d) to work.

I found this interesting and did a quick search. Looks like it does work. http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/java/MoonPhase.htm

-Cat



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

catherine aceto

that link I just posted doesn't work for some reason. I got if from this page http://www.wsanford.com/~wsanford/exo/moon_phases.html

midway down is a link for "demonstration of moon phases."

-Cat



I found this interesting and did a quick search. Looks like it does work. http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/java/MoonPhase.htm

-Cat



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

jrossedd

I thought this little device was so cool when I first heard it that I
never questioned it.. I don't remember the source, but it must have
been someone I trusted to know, for whatever reason.

I came upon this trick long after leaving school myself, in casual
adult conversation, probably standing in someone's driveway one
night.

One thing I know for sure is it was definitely not from schooling!<g>

But I guess there's a downside to just hearing something in passing
like that. I never stopped to think how much knowledge it's based on,
like what the words waxing and waning mean, and how and why the moon
phases change. It wouldn't be useful to anyone (unschooling or not)
who didn't already know those things and/or who wasn't interested in
a handy tool to figure out this particular point.

Thanks to Cat for checking it out. Thanks too for stating the science
more clearly than I did. JJ


>> This made me think of how to tell whether the moon is waxing or
waning, which I only heard as an adult and passed on to my kids, who
enjoy using it. You look to see if the moon's visible curve is on the
side that would outline a little "d" (for diminishing = waning) or a
lower-case "b" for getting "bigger" or waxing.

> I found this interesting and did a quick search. Looks like it
does work.
>> I got if from this page
http://www.wsanford.com/~wsanford/exo/moon_phases.html
> midway down is a link for "demonstration of moon phases."
> - Cat
>
>
>