This was part of a
classroom discussion in high school science (i think the teacher actually used that phrase - though arguably a cool guy, he was no
Yoda). There was a lot of
mental resistance to this concept... because, i guess of the
ambiguity of this concept in that "blow" connotes some
agency or at least activity on the part of the, aww shoot, how do i put it? You know, the
wind blows.
You blow through a straw. Something, someone is doing the blowing, that is, creating the region of high
pressure. In the case of
suck, the activity is on behalf of the low pressure side of the equation, not the high pressure side. This
conceptual leap proved to be too much for some people. If only i could have explained it then.. if only i could
explain it now! The difference is, here, i can assume people will understand.
The discussion moved quickly on from this (which engendered many puns'n'giggles) to the question of heat as molecular motion. From that day forward, if someone in that class thought the thermostat in the room was a little off, they would utter some variation of:
Man, am i being pelted!