Timeline for Is there a widely-accepted opposite of "as the crow flies"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
46 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jul 26, 2017 at 0:47 | comment | added | Izabella | An Irish mile. Google NGram supports. | |
| Jul 25, 2017 at 19:52 | comment | added | Elby Cloud | @thomj1332 asked. Anyone else read Ian's comment as 17 inches? – yes, and had a nice Spinal Tap revery to boot. | |
| Jul 24, 2017 at 14:35 | comment | added | HotelCalifornia | I know there's already an answer, but I just wanted to say "as the taxi drives" | |
| Jul 24, 2017 at 12:55 | comment | added | Reuben Mallaby | I have always heard "take the scenic route", a purposeful, meandering route as opposed to the direct route as a crow could take. | |
| Jul 24, 2017 at 11:38 | comment | added | Alexey | This does not have "the opposite": there are infinitely many paths of arbitrarily large length between any two points. | |
| Jul 24, 2017 at 9:24 | comment | added | The Nate | "As the crow pushes a flat tire." | |
| Jul 24, 2017 at 9:19 | answer | added | AJFaraday | timeline score: 0 | |
| Jul 24, 2017 at 9:03 | comment | added | Darren Bartrup-Cook | @kayleeFrey_onDeck. The most convoluted way in the UK could be expressed as "going around the houses", but that isn't what the OP is after. | |
| Jul 24, 2017 at 3:36 | comment | added | tparker | @kayleeFrye_onDeck I think your suggested alternative is much more confusing, because I'm not looking for "another way of saying 'as the crow flies' " - I'm looking a different phrase that means something different. And more specific than just "indirect," but instead confined to existing paths. | |
| S Jul 24, 2017 at 3:32 | history | rollback | tparker |
Rollback to Revision 2 - Edit approval overridden by post owner or moderator
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| Jul 24, 2017 at 3:21 | history | suggested | kayleeFrye_onDeck | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Opposite is not the word to describe what the OP is looking for; an alternative, not an opposite.
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| Jul 24, 2017 at 2:03 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Jul 24, 2017 at 3:32 | |||||
| Jul 24, 2017 at 2:01 | comment | added | kayleeFrye_onDeck | I wouldn't consider what you're looking for to be the opposite, as the most convulated way to get from point a to point b would technically be the opposite, and that doesn't seem to be what you're looking for. What you're looking for is the indirect way instead of direct way to get from point a to point b. | |
| Jul 23, 2017 at 3:56 | vote | accept | tparker | ||
| Jul 21, 2017 at 18:51 | comment | added | Michael Kohne | I've always heard 'As the goat walks', but I can't find any references to that beyond my own experience. | |
| Jul 21, 2017 at 17:02 | comment | added | BruceWayne | "as the car drives"? I know you gave the Camry example, but this is perhaps a little less ..."funny"? | |
| Jul 21, 2017 at 10:37 | answer | added | anon | timeline score: 18 | |
| Jul 21, 2017 at 10:26 | history | protected | Andrew Leach♦ | ||
| Jul 21, 2017 at 5:46 | answer | added | Grismar | timeline score: 8 | |
| Jul 21, 2017 at 2:21 | answer | added | user3362964 | timeline score: 1 | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 21:25 | comment | added | Emma Dash | "as the dodo wanders"? | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 20:29 | comment | added | Michael Richardson | "As the crow flies in the opposite direction." | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 19:16 | comment | added | thomj1332 | Anyone else read Ian's comment as 17 inches? | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 18:38 | answer | added | David I. McIntosh | timeline score: 2 | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 17:00 | comment | added | aslum | "By Land" could also probably work. | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 16:43 | comment | added | Mari-Lou A | Related: Origin of the term 'country mile'? | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 15:43 | answer | added | user3490 | timeline score: 3 | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 15:17 | answer | added | RichT | timeline score: 10 | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 15:14 | comment | added | monoRed | "As the crow walks" | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 14:54 | comment | added | Mathieu K. | It depends on the mode of transport. If cycling, for instance, it may be further useful to specify the route ("via bike path" or "along the bike paths" or "using/taking the bike paths" vs. "via side streets" or "via bike route" or "via Main and Church") since multiple routes are often possible, and distance may not be the primary deciding factor. | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 14:42 | comment | added | bendl | Also perhaps not common, but "for the rest of us" could be an alternative | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 14:24 | answer | added | Joel Rees | timeline score: 3 | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 13:24 | comment | added | WGroleau | Not common, but "as the drunk walks" (if there's room for levity) | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 13:22 | answer | added | Aliden | timeline score: 28 | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 13:20 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackEnglish/status/888025885646831616 | ||
| Jul 20, 2017 at 13:17 | answer | added | Draco18s no longer trusts SE | timeline score: 12 | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 13:01 | answer | added | mccainz | timeline score: 53 | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 12:46 | comment | added | Ian | I won't put this as an answer, because it's just a thought. I've heard people use 'earthbound' in this context. As in, "As the crow files, it's 10 miles, but to the earthbound it's 17". FWIW | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 12:43 | answer | added | aslum | timeline score: 13 | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 12:21 | answer | added | Reginald Blue | timeline score: 3 | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 9:38 | comment | added | Phil Sweet | There does exist a technical term for this - odometric distance - the distance along a path, usually a constrained path. Its used a lot in autonimous vehicle navigation. | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 9:37 | comment | added | tparker | @JanusBahsJacquet I've edited my post to clarify that I mean a phrase that is used to explicitly contrast with "as the crow flies" in the same sentence. | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 9:36 | history | edited | tparker | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 68 characters in body
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| Jul 20, 2017 at 9:02 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | The most common way of expressing that would be to just give the distance. Unless “as the crow flies” is specified, normal travel, by whatever roads and paths connect A and B, is assumed. | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 8:55 | answer | added | Andrew Leach♦ | timeline score: 77 | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 8:44 | history | asked | tparker | CC BY-SA 3.0 |