dark side of the moon
2
7.4
- noun
- /dɑrk saɪd əv ðə mun/
:
lado oscuro de la luna
- During the lunar mission, we aimed to study the dark side of the moon that is never visible from Earth.
Examples
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The last survivors from Earth boarded the only remaining craft capable of interplanetary travel, Vestial Celestial's Amelia, and traveled to the dark side of the moon.
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And it is now night on the dark side of the moon or the far side of the moon.
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Welcome to the dark side of the moon, gentlemen.
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You were supposed to travel to the dark side of the moon, then it all got shut down.
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See y'all on the dark side of the moon.
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My name is Obi and I live on the dark side of the moon.
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Recent intelligence reports... indicate that a band of youthful revolutionaries... have set up a secret base in the far out region... of the dark side of the moon.
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NASA recently released stunning images of the dark side of the moon, showcasing its unique features.
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Astronauts have always been fascinated by the dark side of the moon, which remains unexplored by human eyes.
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'dark', 'side', and 'moon' can compositionally infer this refers to a particular part of the Moon (a side) that is in some way 'dark' or hidden, so they will likely guess it denotes the part not seen from Earth. However, 'dark' here is historically/misleadingly used (the far side is not permanently dark) and the exact astronomical meaning (tidal locking / hemisphere never visible) requires extra background knowledge, so the relation is only partly predictable.
Etymology
Dark side of the moon refers to the half of the moon that 'never faces Earth', so people could not see it from here. It is called 'dark' because it was hidden from our view, even though that side does get sunlight sometimes.