The difference between transverse and lateral

Imagine you have a long rod. It is of length $l$ and diameter $d$. The rod has a length axis of length $l$.

Transverse is splitting the rod in two along its length axis. We place the rod in front of us such that it is length $l$ from left to right. Then we slice the length in two.

Lateral is splitting the rod in two along its diameter axis. We place the rod in front of us such that we see a circle. Then we slice the circle in half.

How to pull corn off the cob

This is a video in Chinese, found on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/TURZhlzfBIE?t=111

The key ideas:

  1. Split the corn in half by hand transverse.
  2. Then take a scissor, stick it down the core, and try to split the corn in half laterally.
  3. Finally, pluck off the corn from the cob easily.

See also: The difference between transverse and lateral