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Showerthoughts_Mod t1_j9zy4un wrote

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Remember, /r/Showerthoughts is for showerthoughts, not "thoughts had in the shower!"

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scottevil110 t1_j9zyc9o wrote

They're called seconds because they are the second division of an hour.

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GatorScribe t1_ja010ml wrote

I didn’t realize there was a rule about which was first, second and third.

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BubbleThrive OP t1_ja01dj5 wrote

Replying to GatorScribe (#2,004,163)

Some clocks just have one hand and that’s the hour hand. So that is first… can’t be a clock without an hour hand. Then the second most important hand is the minute hand. Some… only some… clocks also have a hand to count the seconds… and called the second hand… but it’s the third hand if you count the order of importance

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Paaaaap t1_ja03e9o wrote

Replying to BubbleThrive (#2,003,730)

In Italian it is "minuti primi" and "minuti secondi" and they are shortened in "minuti" e "secondi" so minutes don't have the "first" in the name, i am guessing that in Latin it used to work somewhat similarly and the world followed

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tyzeebk t1_ja04g8o wrote

So if someone tells you what the second hand reads on the clock, does that make it 3rd, or 4th hand?

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ThinkShower t1_ja0abkr wrote

On the other hand, if I own a second hand watch, can it but tell the hour?

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