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Is the little hand on a clock the hour hand or minute hand?

In: Math and Arithmetic, Geometry, Roman Numerals [Edit categories]

Answer:

The LITTLE hand is the minute hand. Little does not mean short, it means thin. The longer hand is the LITTLE hand. The BIG hand is the hour hand. Big does not mean long, it means fat, wider. The BIG hand is the hour hand because it denotes the larger unit of time measure. An hour is 60 times larger than a minute. So then, the LITTLE hand denotes the smaller unit of time, a minute.
Somewhere along the way some not-too-bright primary school teacher didn't get it right and passed it along incorrectly and lots of people since then have totally missed the connection between BIG=HOUR and LITTLE=MINUTE.

First answer by JoshE3. Last edit by Harold brice. Contributor trust: 2 [recommend contributor ]. Question popularity: 3 [recommend question].

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