UTC: How Greenwich mean time became the world standard

Re:UTC: How Greenwich mean time became the world standard by ColinWright on Tuesday May 28, 2013 @05:40AM (#5779064)

Quoting:

    ... moon's precise motion through the sky is anything
    but regular. Tugged as it is variously by the earth
    and sun and following an oblong orbit ...

An "oblong" orbit? Really?

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Re:UTC: How Greenwich mean time became the world standard by petepete on Tuesday May 28, 2013 @07:55AM (#5779386)

Oblong can be used to refer to any shape that's longer than it is wide. It's an uncommon use of the word these days, though.

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Re:UTC: How Greenwich mean time became the world standard by ColinWright on Tuesday May 28, 2013 @12:15PM (#5780887)

Where I grew up, where I did my PhD, and where I now work, it has only ever been used as an informal work for "rectangle." I see Wikipedia say "sometimes used of any shape longer than it is wide." I would find it interesting to see a world map of that usage - it's completely foreign to me.

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Re:UTC: How Greenwich mean time became the world standard by kalleboo on Tuesday May 28, 2013 @10:17AM (#5780171)

I always thought an "oblong" was a synonym for an oval. Today I learned something new.

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