This is also a Squares hint for January!

Initially I was confused by the sign. What could it mean? For a brief moment given its proximity to the parking signs on a very very steep road I was thinking it was some kind of balance warning. I know daft but the road is steep and you do have to park at 90 degrees on one side!

I entered ‘see-saw’ sign into my search engine when I got back to my San Francisco apartment, and waited in anticipation. It got me no where. So I did a reverse image search and discovered it meant a children’s play park was nearby.

However I remained confused as to why my see-saw search hadn’t brought anything up. After a bit more research I discovered the alternative American name of teeter-totter, such a great name. On chatting to American friends and family over the following days I learnt teeter-totter is not used everywhere in the USA. Some areas call it a see-saw like we do in England, others call it a tilt, and apparently even ridey-horse. Whilst the name is confusing we do at least use it the same way; we sit on it. Unlike in Korea where they stand on them and jump to propel themselves in the air, before landing again on the board. They call it ‘neolttwigi‘, and I couldn’t even imagine attempting that!

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  1. Pingback: Early Announcement – The life of B

  7. Signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs… that’s my guess! Which could be a broad interpretation or I could be barking up the wrong tree. As there were lots of trees in the post. Bernie

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  9. Oh the memories playing on the teeter-totter brought up, Becky. Signs like this are confusing as I’ve also experienced. In southern California it was the teeter-totter. Looking forward to Janauary squares… I’m guessing signs, balance or play! 😁

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  10. I’m always fascinated by the differences between US and UK English, but I hadn’t heard this one. I used to love see-sawing as a child 🙂 But as for that Korean version, it sounds both scary and dangerous!

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  11. I love this as it conveys those visual and linguistic differences even when same or dare I say similar language. I find all these icons confusing and prefer a word except as with see saw might not work! just to add to confusion for some reason my oldest grand child called a great stuffed horse she was given ,when about 1, See Saw and all horses became see saws for a while! You have certainly opened up some memories with this photo.

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    1. It is fascinating isn’t it how much is so different even though the words are exactly the same – like you I find icons confusing!

      does she remember calling the horses see-saws?

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  12. Well this has been fascinating. And brought back a memory of a very small Alex being hit on the head by a see saw, a dash to A&E where we waited 5 hours and had to return home without seeing a doctor before the buses stopped running. (I had no money for a taxi).

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  16. So you got me wondering why it was called a see-saw! Seems to make no sense, but according to Wiki:

    Seesaw, or its variant see-saw, is a direct Anglicisation of the French ci-ça, meaning literally, this-that, seemingly attributable to the back-and-forth motion for which a seesaw is known. The term may also be attributable to the repetitive motion of a saw.

    I had guessed the latter, but the former makes sense too. So now I’m satisfied.

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    1. I did wonder about sharing what they think the origins are – did you see another one that suggests it comes from I see …..I saw . . . .?!

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