[alfa] Nearside / Offside

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I almost invariably agree with Keith Walker (as I certainly did in his recent exception to Brad Anesi's loose use of 'factory recommended' for an ARDONA modification: Alfa content) but his explanation that "Near side is nearest the curb, off side is the side away from the curb" is at odds with all dictionary explanations I have seen. All give 'near' and off' as left and right respectively, not reversing them for countries, like the USA, which drive and park on the wrong side of the road with opposite curbs. The staid, even archaic O.E.D. gives for 'near', "With reference to animals or vehicles: left (as opposed to far, off, or right", and says that this use is based on the fact that horses and cattle are commonly mounted, led, or approached from the left, and gives numerous citations, the earliest in 1559 of "a filly with a white neare foote behinde". Paved urban streets with curbs (or kerbs) may occasionally have existed that early, (streets yes, curbs probably no) but if they did they were certainly rare.
 
All the best, with respect,
 
John 
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