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His arms were folded and his feet were at 9 o’clock and noon.

English translation: *

13:49 Sep 20, 2014
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Other
English term or phrase: His arms were folded and his feet were at 9 o’clock and noon.
Can you describe the posture of this person a little bit more comprehensively? May be even to draw a picture.
Tatiana&Roman
Local time: 14:16
Selected answer:*
Explanation:
the person is standing with arms folded across their chest and with their feet as in the image below, for example:

http://comps.canstockphoto.com/can-stock-photo_csp15668060.j...

(i.e. at a 90-degree angle between the left and the right foot)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2014-09-20 15:30:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

PS. When using the "clock dial" metaphor, it is usually taken from the point of view of the person that the mataphor is being applied to. So "12 o'clock" is that person's "straight ahead" direction, "11 o'clock" is that person's "slightly to the left" direction, and so on.

See e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_position about this.

So when a person has their feet positioned as desribed, he or she is to be imagined facing in the "12 o'clock" direction. So their right foot is directed straight ahead and their left foot is directed exactly to their left, in the direction of their left shoulder.

Hope this explains it. :)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day2 hrs (2014-09-21 16:23:14 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

A good way to look at it is to imagine you are looking at your watch (soon to be Apple Watch :) ): you are wearing the watch on your left wrist and you have brought the left hand directly in front of you, with the watch dial facing upwards.

Then it's easy to see why "12 o'clock" is the "forward" direction, "3 o'clock" is the "90 degrees to your right" direction, etc.
Selected response from:

Aleksandra Kleschina
Russian Federation
Local time: 16:16
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +6*
Aleksandra Kleschina
4 +5...right foot pointing straight ahead, left foot turned to the left at 90 degree angle
Yvonne Gallagher
4arms interlinked, with one foot pointing out at 45 degrees, the other straight
Andrew Bramhall
3his arms folded, standing with legs apart
Renata Mlikovska


Discussion entries: 7





  

Answers


22 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
his arms were folded and his feet were at 9 o’clock and noon.
arms interlinked, with one foot pointing out at 45 degrees, the other straight


Explanation:
...evoking the imagery of a clock face; the foot at 45 degrees is pointing to the right, where 9 o'clock would be on a clock, the other straight up to 12 noon or midnight;

Andrew Bramhall
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:16
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Aleksandra Kleschina: 9 o'clock is on the left, though :) Oh, and the degrees too!.. (I mean, come on, you can't argue with that. 90 degrees is perpendicular, that's the angle between 9 and 12 o'clock.)
4 mins
  -> Not as you look at it;
neutral  Daniel Rabinovich: and at 90 degrees, not 45 :)
18 mins
  -> Not 90 degrees;
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17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
his arms were folded and his feet were at 9 o’clock and noon.
his arms folded, standing with legs apart


Explanation:
He was standing with legs apart and - feet (toes) in position of hour hands - 9 and 12 hours
(It is a aviation terminilogy)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 36 min (2014-09-20 14:25:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or rather - he was standing straight with one leg turned to a side (like hours hands)

Renata Mlikovska
Czech Republic
Local time: 13:16
Native speaker of: Czech
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
his feet were at 9 o’clock and noon.
...right foot pointing straight ahead, left foot turned to the left at 90 degree angle


Explanation:
...I presume you know what "folded arms" are. One term at a time...

This is assuming person is standing

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 12:16
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 129

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Agneta Pallinder: This is also right
1 hr
  -> well yes, I think Asker wanted explanation in words rather than a picture of a clock:-)
agree  Jean-Claude Gouin
2 hrs
  -> Thanks!
neutral  Aleksandra Kleschina: Well, I think Asker wrote "May be even to draw a picture." :) Given that, apparently, people have difficulty calculating the angle between the two hands of that clock, perhaps a picture would do some good to those with less visual an imagination...
2 hrs
  -> Neutral? So why did you add a PS based on my answer then?//I think e veryone knows what a clock face looks like!
agree  B D Finch
18 hrs
  -> Many thanks B!
agree  BdiL: Topologically it is evident that the only thing that matters is the position of one foot to the other. Then we can describe in which plane (2-dimensional portion of space) the position is. If the person is standing, then right foot's pointing forward etc.
1 day 2 hrs
  -> Thanks! Yes, we have to assume person is standing since we were not given any other info. And feet are at right angles (90 degrees) to each other
agree  Björn Vrooman: Post-grading: This was the most straightforward answer. BTW: Source text, AFAIK, is from Canada about a doctor who saved the life of an ice-hockey commentator's wife. Doctor is standing when making the "gutsy call". "o'clock" is hockey terminology here...
1 day 14 hrs
  -> Thanks. Asker preferred an asterisk * (and clock face...)
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
his arms were folded and his feet were at 9 o’clock and noon.
*


Explanation:
the person is standing with arms folded across their chest and with their feet as in the image below, for example:

http://comps.canstockphoto.com/can-stock-photo_csp15668060.j...

(i.e. at a 90-degree angle between the left and the right foot)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2014-09-20 15:30:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

PS. When using the "clock dial" metaphor, it is usually taken from the point of view of the person that the mataphor is being applied to. So "12 o'clock" is that person's "straight ahead" direction, "11 o'clock" is that person's "slightly to the left" direction, and so on.

See e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_position about this.

So when a person has their feet positioned as desribed, he or she is to be imagined facing in the "12 o'clock" direction. So their right foot is directed straight ahead and their left foot is directed exactly to their left, in the direction of their left shoulder.

Hope this explains it. :)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day2 hrs (2014-09-21 16:23:14 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

A good way to look at it is to imagine you are looking at your watch (soon to be Apple Watch :) ): you are wearing the watch on your left wrist and you have brought the left hand directly in front of you, with the watch dial facing upwards.

Then it's easy to see why "12 o'clock" is the "forward" direction, "3 o'clock" is the "90 degrees to your right" direction, etc.

Aleksandra Kleschina
Russian Federation
Local time: 16:16
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Patricia Fierro, M. Sc.
17 mins
  -> Thank you!
agree  Agneta Pallinder: At last!
1 hr
  -> Thank you! :)
agree  Mark Nathan: Isn't this the sort of thing ballet dancers do just before they leap into action?
1 hr
  -> I am sorry, I wouldn't know that exactly. :) But sounds about right!
agree  Jean-Claude Gouin
2 hrs
  -> Thank you!
agree  BdiL: Watch out the misspellings (you were in a hurry)! I subscribe to your transcription of Aleksandra with "ks" i/o "x". To Mark Nathan, probably so, but not with folded arms.
1 day 1 hr
  -> Thank you! :) Do you mean "metaphor"? I saw that, but there is no way to correct the misspellings... Yeah, with "x" the pronunciation of the name it not what it is in Russian.
agree  Julia Stepanchuk
1 day 1 hr
  -> Thank you!
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