Postby Hasbeen » 11 Aug 2010 23:56
For all you young blokes, who are too young to understand the world, near & off side comes from the days of horse power of the real thing, the HORSE.
The near side was of course the side nearest the side of the road, out of the mud, the place you got on from. Obviously the "NEAR" side.
As horses were trained to be mounted from this near side, many of them became nervous, & frightened if someone tried to mount them from the wrong side. This would often cause the more excitable horse to buck, bolt, [that's run away, or gallop off for those more citified folk], or get hard to handle.
As a horse doing these things, when the prospective rider was only half on, often led to that person landing on their head, it became the side to fall off.
What else could you call it, but the "OFF" side.
So there you have it, the "NEAR" & the "OFF" side, & if you believe it, you're not as smart I though you were.
Hasbeen