(no subject)

[flemmings]

Cannot brain again. An old problem that I've never been able to think of a solution for.

You have two people sitting at a table. A is sitting on one side and B is on the side to A's right. So you say 'B is sitting to the right of A' or 'on A's right hand' if you want to be archaic. However. You have two people sitting on the same side of a table. B is next to A. You can say 'B is next to A', fine, but you can also say 'B is sitting to the right of A' or 'on the right hand of A.'

Is there any wording that specifically suggests that A and B are sitting on different sides of the same table, and not on the same side?

Comments

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Opposite to me means you're sitting face to face. In this case B is sitting at right angles to A, not across from him. How do I indicate right angledness as opposed to side-by-sideness?

[ninjoo.livejournal.com]

Diagonally across?

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Close, but diagonally to me means corner to corner. Here A is sitting on a side. Diagonally from a side is hard for me to figure.

[i-am-zan.livejournal.com]

Sitting across from one another? Does it matter the shape of the table. Square or circle.

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

They aren't sitting across, though. A is on one side of the table and B is on the side to the right of that side.

... I wonder... any help at all? I

[i-am-zan.livejournal.com]

http://www.orientalfood.com/culture/etiquette/banquet.shtml

http://www.allchinanet.com/chinese_festival/chinese_dinning_customs.shtml

Sorry too lazy to put under links.

Re: ... I wonder... any help at all? I

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It gives me a picture of a feasting table, which is what I was looking for in vain last night. Googling about suggests that pre-Han people sat on the floor or raised platforms, a la Woxin, which is what my impeccably Tang dragons should do as well. However-- Heaven has chairs and tables so the kings have chairs and tables. Now I just need a way to describe what a dinner for two looks like.

[feliciter.livejournal.com]

The adjacent/adjoining side?

This site (http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-food/seating-arrangement.htm) gives a potted history of several seating arrangements, most of which were unfamiliar to this culturally-challenged person who is used to table numbers at formal functions, waiting for the host to show the way in smaller occasions, and free seating at everything else.

silly question on my part, but why do Tang dragons follow the seating arrangements of pre-Han people?

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I think adjacent was the word I was trying to remember, and one that can go into 'generic period' style where kitty-corner or even diagonally will not.

Other websites specifically contradict the information there. China is a big country, and it wouldn't surprise me if customs in Shanghai differed from customs in Guangdon.

because I cannot brain and meant to say 'prior to the *Tang* and Song, people sat on the floor so *Han* dragons would too'. Minekura's dragons look Han to me-- no underskirts to be seen. OTOH rasetsunyo draws /her/ dragons in Tang robes. Hmmm...

[summer-queen.livejournal.com]

I'm with nojojojo, though you could also say they were sitting facing one another. It doesn't strictly mean on opposite sides, but I think that's how most folks would interpret it.

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

See my answer there. The point is that they're not sitting on opposite sides. If A is sitting on the south side of the table, B is sitting on the east side-- to A's right, but not side by side.

If I say 'B sat to the right of A' it means either 'side by side' or 'at right angles to.' I need a wording which says specifically 'to the right of A but not on the same side.'

[cesmith.livejournal.com]

When I think of people sitting at a table the way you describe, I think of the short and long side of a table. You could say "A sat at the head of the table, B sat on the side to his right."

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

That's a solution, except even with a rectangular table, the most important person sits against the longest side and the subordinate person sits at the shorter side. Thus head (and foot) have no meaning.

It gets even worse with certain Chinese ways of seating at banquets. You have a square table with one side facing the company who are seated at other tables below. The host and guest of honour sit at either end of the table-- the head and foot, if it were rectangular-- except that they sit /sideways/ to the table, facing out to the company. Try describing that without tears.

[paleaswater.livejournal.com]

I cannot brain either. But some phrase involving sideways.

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

That seems to be the answer, yes. Thanks.

[mvrdrk.livejournal.com]

As children, we always used "catty-corner". Turns out it's a real word from the 1800s. www.m-w.com tells me: Etymology: kitty-corner alteration of cater-corner, from obsolete cater four + corner Date: 1838