What are cis and trans alternate types of? I don’t think it’s “gender identity” because wouldn’t that just be man, woman or nonbinary regardless of whether they’re cis or trans? Cis/trans just being a qualifier?
If the answer is “I am cis” or “I am trans”, what is the question?
Edit: Someone came up with the term “gender congruity” and (after looking up the definition of “congruity”) I think this describes what I’m talking about perfectly.
Before “cisgender” became a widely publicized term, about the only time I ever heard the term “cis” was discussing Cisalpine versus Transalpine Gaul in ancient Rome. (Cisalpine Gaul being northern Italy and Transalpine Gaul southern France, more or less - the parts of Gaul that were on the same side or the opposite side of the Alps from Rome).
Yep, as a space-fan I mostly heard it as ‘cislunar’ vs ‘translunar’.
Yes, though that one is a bit confusing because you’ve also got terms like ‘trans-lunar injection’ in which ‘trans’ is referring to the passage to the moon rather than to which side of it you’re on.
Chemistry. Cis-2-n-ene vs Trans-2-n-ene. First one is all carbons on the same side and the latter is carbons on opposite sides.
That is how I remember it as well. A picture for those that wants to understand quickly:
but-2-ene
For those not well versed in organic chemistry or needs a refresher, where it is the most likely scenario you would encounter such terms, let me clarify a few points:
The -ene suffix indicates there is a double bond in the compound
The -2- indicates that the double bond is on the 2nd carbon, between carbon 2 and 3 (beta position). The placement of the n in the above post is incorrect as the location should be beside the functional group, hence the example should have been “-n-2-ene”
The -n- is a variable for the length of the carbon (e.g. prop- (3 C), but- (4 C), pent- (5 C), hex- (6 C), etc.).
Due to symmetry, you do not see the cis/trans-isomers (aka E/Z and syn/anti) unless until there is at least 4 carbons.
Hence, the easiest way to demonstrate this, is to show but-2-ene
but-2-ene
Due to priority, the cis/trans is based on the relative position of the alkyl group rather than hydrogen in this compound (review the IUPAC naming system if you want THAT refresher)
A cis-but-2-ene has the C1 and C4 (alkyls to the left and right of the beta double bond respectively) are on the same side.
Trans-but-2-ene has C1 and C4 on opposite sides.
Hope that helps clarify matters for people. If not, look up the topic on your favorite search engine. I highly recommend checking out the Wikipedia entry first though as it may resolve it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/But-2-ene
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cis-trans_isomerism