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#87051 11/15/02 07:48 AM
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Bingley Offline OP
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Over high tea yesterday I happened to mention that I was wearing my spare pair of glasses because of an accident to my main pair. I said that the part of my glasses that goes from the edge of the lens to my ear had broken.

I naturally referred to this as the leg of my glasses. My companions were an English woman who insisted that the word was arm, and two Canadians (one male and one female if that's relevant), who were equally vehement that the word was temple.

Any other possibilities?

Bingley


Bingley
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it's always been the bow (boh) to me.



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old hand
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Yup, I agree with the Canadians (not surprisingly), it's temple, but it's one of the words I can never remember when I really need it and I often substitute arm, only to be reprimanded by the people in the know.


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dxb Offline
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Arm, leg, temple? Prescription glasses cost an arm and a leg in the UK and you may have to go to the moneylenders before you can pay for them.


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- - - is what the two monocles did when they got together in the optician's window.

As my latest specs cost me an arm and a leg, I happily ascribe either limb to them, although I think I favour "arm" as a descriptor of that element.


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I too would call the part from the hinge at the corner of teh lens to the ear, the temple... but i think i might also use temple arm.


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well, the US Patent Office calls them temples:
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/def/351.htm

my family, all six of whom are eyeglass wearers, have always called them bows. temples are the part of your body which the bow crosses. must be a midwestern US thing...






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enthusiast
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I (a Canadian) have always used and heard 'arm'.


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wwh Offline
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I have heard temples more often than bows. Many sites mention temples, e.g.:
Medem: Medical Library: Introduction to Eyeglasses: Bridges, ... - ... Medical Library.
Printer-friendly format. Introduction to Eyeglasses: Bridges, Temples and Hinges. Keeping the glasses on
your face. ...
http://www.medem.com/MedLB/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZ69YNLH4C&sub_cat=114 search within
this site

But then I found an equal number os sites using the word bows:

BladePro Eyeglasses - How to make Blade Pro Eyeglasses. This tutorial will ... the rims: Now
to add in a bridge and the hinges for the bows to attach to. Select ...
http://psp.tephras.com/tutorials/glasses/




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old hand
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Hmm . . . I think my family always calls them stems. ?


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