I asked that person what they call it where they’re from…and you came in not even answering my question 😭 just telling me “if your not English you don’t call it compass” like no shit 😭 but he’s up there speaking perfect English so it’s perfectly reasonable to assume he is English or atleast a native speaker, therefore reasonable to be confused why he didn’t know what it was called.
Breh.
I'd like to think I speak English quite fluently, but there are still times I come across things I don't know the name for.
Especially trade-specific items (tools for example) that occur outside of basic conversation.
I haven't used or seen a compass since high school, and it wouldn't be the first word that comes to mind to describe it.
So I don't think your conclusion of "this person speaks English so he must know all the words in the English language" quite hits the mark.
To answer you original question, in Dutch (and apparantly Danish) it's called a 'passer'. We use the word compass (kompas) but only to refer to the thing you use to navigate.
It’s not that I assumed he would know all the words in the English language. He said he was a geometry and math nerd. A compass is a math tool. Him being an English and geometry nerd, on top of his very well written out comment, yes made it confusing to me that he didn’t know what a compass was. A math and geometry nerd that speaks English that well should by all means know that’s called a compass, imo.
And just cos I’m pedantic, that doesn’t answer my original question 😂 I asked him what he calls it where he’s from…nobody else can answer that for him 😂 but I appreciate your answer anyway. We have a compass (that always points north) and this is also a compass. Iv never heard it called anything else. I just assumed they were universally called compass
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u/PauseConfident997 2d ago
I’m a New Zealander, not English, and it’s called a compass where I’m from…so it’s not only English people that call it that