Thing To Be Today: longitudinal.

Here's a very easy thing to be because everyone has a measurement of longitude - that is, a measurement of how far round the globe you are starting from Greenwich in London.



There's even a celestial longitude for those of us who aren't on Earth.

My (Earth) longitude at the moment is -0.496573 (the minus sign shows that I'm West of Greenwich). If you're interested you can find your own longitude HERE.

You'll probably have been longitudinal in other ways, today, as well. Assuming you don't lie sideways across the bed then you'll have slept longitudinally. Reclining on a sofa will involve being longitudinal, too, and if you listen to music while you're doing it then you'll be experiencing longitudinal waves.

Unfortunately the word longitudinal been adopted by psychologists to describe a study carried out over a period of time (rather than studying a lot of people at one particular moment). I rather wish it hadn't, because there are clearer ways of describing that sort of study: ten-year, for instance.

But still, in a largely vertical life, let's take time to appreciate the joys of being longitudinal.

Is nine o'clock in the morning too soon to start? 

Hmm, it is, isn't it. Bother.

Thing To Do Today: be longitudinal. This word comes from the Latin longitūdō, which means length.