Eastmen / Westmen

English translation: rows of men working the oars on both sides of the ship

16:54 Nov 7, 2008

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature

English term or phrase: Eastmen / Westmen

"Eastmen, hold", his father cried loud, and the men on the ship's right dug theri oars in, then raised them.
"Westmen, one more pull," he called again, and those on the left, Bjorn and Thorolf included, gave theirs one more hard tug before lifting the blades clear of the water.

flipendo KudoZ activity Questions: 127 (1 open) (1 without valid answers) (1 closed without grading) Answers: 318
Local time: 22:54

Selected answer:rows of men working the oars on both sides of the ship

Explanation:
One group is to the right and the other is to the left -- East and West.

Selected response from:

Mark Berelekhis
United States
Local time: 15:54

Grading comment

Thank you.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +3

rows of men working the oars on both sides of the ship

Mark Berelekhis

3 +2

based on geographic origins

JohnGBell

2 +1

oarsmen sitting on the western side versus those on the eastern side

Jonathan MacKerron

Discussion entries: 7

Answers

2 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

eastmen / westmen

rows of men working the oars on both sides of the ship

Explanation:
One group is to the right and the other is to the left -- East and West.

Mark Berelekhis
United States
Local time: 15:54
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Russian,

English
PRO pts in category: 206

Grading comment

Thank you.

2 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

eastmen / westmen oarsmen sitting on the western side versus those on the eastern side

Explanation:
at first view and without more to go on

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Note added at 7 mins (2008-11-07 17:01:49 GMT)
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unless the oarsmen on either side come from different geographical areas??

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Note added at 16 mins (2008-11-07 17:10:39 GMT)
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perhaps this is a direct translation from Old Norsk, from back in the day when oarsmen were designated as such??

Jonathan MacKerron
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 80

23 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

eastmen / westmen based on geographic origins

Explanation:
"This description "eastman" (from Norway) has to be seen together with the description "westman" (From Ireland/Scotland) "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Faroe_Islands

Perhaps the crew were from different oigins and the Easrtmen were predominantly on the right of the ship and the Westmen on the left. But Bjorn and Thorolf were probably Eastmen in the Westmen side! which is why they were singled out in the text.

JohnGBell
Local time: 22:54
Native speaker of:

English

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Eastmen / Westmen

English translation: rows of men working the oars on both sides of the ship

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