Left-handed language
A lot of language around the world and throughout history has been very detrimental to left-handers, whether it is the names we are called or the words that are used to mean "left-handed".| Left-handed language
Sayings where the word "left" does not fit Sayings where the word "right" does not fit Positive references to left-handed |
Left-handed language
Left Handers do not do any better in foreign languages, as we show below. This is mainly based on personal communications from people who live in the countries concerned and we cannot guarantee it is correct! If you have any more examples or any comments or corrections, please add them using the comments link at the bottom and we will update the main table as appropriateLeft handed terms by country and what they mean
| Country / Language | Words for "Left-Handed" | Meanings |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic | ShammaliA'asar | Mohammad says: In arabic we call left handed people as (Shammali) or (A’asar) meaning Lefty for both words. The 2nd arabic word might mean Difficult.Marwan said:It is amazing to get to discover items and products that would have made our life easier. In the Arab countries left handers are called ” feshlawe ” or ” A’asar ” the first word means loser while the second means the one who faces hard times, both words shows who our cultures considers left handers as losers or people with less abilities, while on the contrary we have more skills but we just need suitable tools. |
| Australia | Mollie Dooker | Something to do with having fists like a girl |
| Belarus | Liewsha | Meaning:Sneaky or Mistrustful |
| Botswana | Ntsogotlho and Molema | In the Setswana language, if someone calls you NTSOGOTLHO they mean someone who uses a hand for the loo but if they say MOLEMA it simply means your left-hand.Generally, in Botswana people who are left-handed are considered very intelligent but in some minor tribes they consider us to be handicapped. Before, many would try and force their children to use their right-hand but that has since gone. |
| Bulgarian | In Bulgarian we have three words describing a left-handed person - Левичар (Levichar), Левогер (Levoger) and Левак (Levak). The last one is considered very offensive. We also have a term called лефтерен (lefteren), which describes something that's not working properly or isn't strong enough. As you can see, the word is derived from English left. | |
| Chinese | In Chinese, the word left is sometimes associated with the "dark side". There is a phrase that associated the evil with the word left "Zuo". IF I am not wrong, in Cantonese, the word left also means hindering. But this will require the native Cantonese speaking people to verify.Eva tells us: I am a native Cantonese. I just want to verify that you’re right about the Cantonese saying zuo” it means hindering, in the way of something which is seen as bad. | |
| Danish | Venstre-håndetKejthåndetAvethåndet | neutral, "using the left hand", to be "kejtet" means to be clumsy, awkward (dialect): "avet" means clumsy, wrong |
| Dutch | Linkshandig | Lefthanded Another meaning of the dutch word "Links" but only in the dialect "Brabants" (from Noord-Brabant, a province of the Netherlands) is "inside-out", especially used for clothing. Like in: "Je hebt je shirt links aan" (you are wearing your T-shirt inside-out) |
| Finnish | Vasenkätinen Vasuri | Left-handed "Lefty" |
| French | Gauche | Awkward, clumsy |
| German | Links, Linkisch | Awkward |
| Greek | Skaios | Ill-omened, awkward Comment received - there's no word like that in greek... the word is aristeros, coming from aristos, meaning someone who succeeds. Update from Katerina in Greece: I don’t know the word you display for left handed in greek althought I’m a native greek. Aristeros is more used, though the most frequent word is aristeroxeiras which literally means left handed. A rude way to call a left handed is stravos” which means crooked or twisted (I was often called like that by my grandmother when I was trying to help her in the kitchen, although she didn’t mean to be rude) |
| Hindi | Ulta Haanth | The left hand in Hindi is called "Ulta Haanth", which literally translates to the opposite, wrong, bad hand. So much has this permeated that most lefties don't realise what they're saying, and wind up using the phrase themselves |
| Hungarian | Hungarian language is quite straightforward: Right - "Jobb" (also a synonym for better) comes from the word "Jo" which means good Left - "Bal" (also a synonym for bad, or used grammatically negative meaning to positive word, for example: Balszerencse - "Left" Luck = disaster Baleset - "Left" event = accident etc....you get the point | |
| Indonesia | Kidal | means lefty. It is interesting because in my culture, kidal or lefty also means impolite.Halida from Indonesia tells us "I'd like to comment of the Indonesian meaning for the left-handed term. I'm an Indonesian and it's true that the word for left-handed is "kidal". But as far as I know (and I've asked my friends from various ethnic groups) it doesn't have any negative meaning. The official Indonesian dictionary defines "kidal" as "being more skillful with the left side of the body (left hand) rather than the right side". I am of Minang ethnic group and since a lot of the words in Indonesian language come from Minang language I'm guessing "kidal" in Indonesia comes from the Minang language, "kida" which simply means "left", no negative meaning whatsoever. The Minang language itself, depending on the region, uses the word "kida" or "kedoh" for left-handed. |
| Iran | Chapool | Arezou from Iran tells us: In my country there is a word "Chapool" ,which means lefty. However, I would like to say that in Iran there is a goood concept about the left handed people and every one believes that left handers are more intelligent than others. This is the opinion which I have heard hundreds of times when people understand that I am left handed. I am 32 years old and I have never heard bad words but only compliments from the people around. Although when I was a child my mother told me to eat my meal with my right hand and it is not good in formal parties to eat with left hand. All I tried to say is that it is not all over the world there are mocking words aligned to left handers. I mean some countries have a positive assumption to the left handed people |
| Irish | CiotógCitogCithogCloot | In the Gaelic language, pronounced 'kitt-ogue' (as in 'rogue'). Also means "the strange one". The term is also used by Irish people speaking in English - it would be frequently used in sports commentary and there is a TV production company called Ciotog Films. Left or Stupid is the Irish name for left handers, especially completely left handed people. It's slightly negative, meaning awkward...I cant work with you. some of my Irish relatives call me caggy mufty [not sure about the spelling!]. 'Citeog’ is the Irish expression for a leftie. Nobody knows where it first started but its generally an endearing term and not at all offensive ciotógach = Gaelic (Irish) for left-handed |
| Italian | Mancini | Crooked, maimed Italian for left side is "sinistra"; a like term for sinister. Update from Esra: Left handed in Italian is actually either MANCINO (for male ) and MANCINA ( for female).. Mancini is plural form of Mancino which is male.So you should use both il MANCINO (male) la MANCINA (female). |
| Japanese | I've been learning Japanese; the Japanese for left-handed is "hidari kiki" which as far as I can gather has no negative connotations. Hidari-kiki has no negative connotations, and 'southpaw', from the American Baseball term is also often used. An obsolete term, 'gitcho' is no longer used, on the assumption that it was derogatory since there was no equivalent term for right-handed. However, the possible origin of the term itself shows no particular bias - the word 'gitcho' is the name of the stick used in a Heian era stick and ball game, and 'hidari-gitcho' is simply the word used for hitting the ball with the stick in the left hand. | |
| Kenya | Njenga in Kantas tell us "Did you know Maasai name for a left hander means a monkey?" | |
| Korean | Oen | right - Oreun(in Korean). It means right, correct (it is like English 'right'). Also, Oreunson(right hand) is often replaced 'Bareunson', its mean is perpectly same 'right'. It is very interesting. left - oen(it sounds like 'when') It means 'wrong', 'bad' in old Korean. It is used in Korean proberb sometimes |
| Latin | Sinister Dexter | On the left-hand side On the right hand side (dextrous) |
| Malaysia | In Malaysia, our local language Bahasa Melayu (Malay Language) term left-handedness as Kidal. ("ki" as in KEY and "dal" as in "DAHL" like Roald Dahl) | |
| Mexico | Chueco | Literally, "chueco" means twisted or non-straight. |
| Northern Ireland | I'm from a small town in Northern Ireland where a lot of our dialect is Ulster-Scotch. Every time I went to write, or do anything with my left hand I was called "KITTER FISTED" or "AWKWARD ANNIE"! In fact, I'm only 29 but went to seconday school with a lefty who had the 'devil beat out of him'and was forced to use his right hand. Oh the ignorance of it all....!! | |
| Norwegian | Kjevhendt | Crooked-handed (also advised to us as keivhent, left-hander) In Norwegian it's more common (and correct)to say "venstrehendt" instead of keivhendt (kjevhendt) "Venstrehendt" simply means left handed as opposed to "høyrehendt" which means "righthanded". |
| Philippines | Kaliwete | Unfortunately, it also has another negative meaning like the other languages. When someone is a "kaliwete," or mentioned to be "nangangaliwete" (present tense verb form), it can mean that a person is a two-timer or is being unfaithful. |
| Poland | In polish language lefthanded mean leworÄ™czny( correct) also people use words as: mańkut, śmaja, lewus. The last phrases are offensive for lefthanders. Leworeczcy or mankut in Polish, meaning:illegalUpdate from Paul: You’re wrong - there’s no such word like leworeczcy” or mankut” ( mańkut” is correct). canIf you want to say that something is illegal, you use word lewy” which means left” in english | |
| Portuguese | canhoto | Portuguese "canhoto" meaning; lacking ability or physical co-ordination; clumsy; badly done or made "Canhoto" is a popular name for the Devil here in Portugal and there are many superstitions and even popular festivities in which Canhoto appears as the Devil himself, in rituals such as "queimar o Canhoto" ("burning the Canhoto"), in some regions, a kind of Halloween. Also, when speaking of a potentially terrible event or a bad omen it is a Portuguese traditional gesture to knock three times on wood with the right hand and say "Diabo sejas cego, surdo e mudo! Lagarto, lagarto, lagarto sejas canhoto!" which translates roughly into "Devil be blind, deaf and mute! Lizard, lizard, lizard be left-handed!". This is probably so because by cursing the Devil to be left-handed it will prevent him from doing harm so efficiently, as is a popular misconception to believe left-handed to be awkward and clumsy. There is also another popular saying - "Figas Canhoto!" (usually accompanied by the gesture of hooking the right forefinger over the (right) thumb which is traditionally used to ward off evil, jinxes, the Devil), "Figas" being the plural name of said gesture and Canhoto the Devil himself. In Portugal we also have the word "Esquerdino" which indicates "someone who habitually uses the left hand", which is better accepted because "canhoto" is a derogatory definition, but is best used on a daily basis. |
| Romanian | Stângaci | which means "left-hander" as well as "unskillful" |
| Russian | in russian LEVSHA.it is meaning not trustworthy.in Ortodoxy church left side is a women`s side In Russia classmates often say about lefthanders: "Левша-ÐºÑ€Ð¸Ð²Ð°Ñ Ð´ÑƒÑˆÐ°".It means, lefthander has a wry soul ;) Liefshá,liewshá and lifshá are lefties in Russian and meaning:not trustworthy and sneaky.The variant:na lievo,meaning:sneaky | |
| Scotland | I'm Scottish and up here left handed people are called corrie-fisted. It comes from the Gaelic cearr meaning left, or wrong hand. There are also some local dialect versions, such as caurrie-haundit and corrie dukit. | |
| Serbian | In Serbian we both write and read it the same-LEVORUK if it's a male or LEVORUKA if it's female.And that literaly means LEFT HAND! | |
| Spanish | Zurdo Siniestro Chueco | Reverse - No Ser Zurdo = Clever. Not usually used in an insulting way. In Argentina, the "zurdos" are seen as quite intelligent people In spanish right handers are called "diestro" (which means= able), and siniestro means creapy, freak TwistedAnother word for lefthanded in spanish is ZOCATO. This means the fruit before is ripe, when is yellow and rough |
| Swahili | left is kushoto, or weak | |
| Swedish | vänsterhänt | left-handed. According to my etymological dictionary the word "vänster" ("left") originally meant "the favourable [side]", and is related to the word "vän" ("friend"). So, maybe you should add a list of languages where the word "left" actually is a positive one! :-)Linnea says: Here in Sweden I have heard another word for lefty that is less nice than the common word vänsterhänt” and that is felhänt” which means wrong-handed. |
| Turkish | Solak | From Esra: Turkish Solak is correct but doesn't have any other meaning. SOL's mean is Left in Turkish. Together with AK it means left side user. There is no any other meaning as clumsy or something, just left -side user. Aysun tells us: "There is not even a single word in Turkish that insult left handed people" |
| Ukrainian | Lifshá | Meaning:Sneaky or Mistrustful |
| Venezuela | MochoLa Mocha | Adolfo tells us: Here in Venezuela we often use the term mocho” to refer to a lefty, or la mocha”, to refer to the left hand. Mocho” would roughly translate as maimed”, or awkward, clumsy” or stuff like that, and la mocha” would be something like the maimed (hand)”. |
| Wales | When I was young in Wales I was often referred to as being "llaw bwt" i.e. stump handed. Not very flattering, but as I didn't speak Welsh at the time it didn't really mean anything to me! Also the Welsh for LEFT is CHWITH, and if something is O'I CHWITH it is wrong, or out of place |
If you have any more examples or any comments or corrections, please Click here to email Keith to let us know.
Names for left-handers
Researchers preparing a survey of English dialects found 88 different words for 'left-handed' (mostly uncomplimentary) in local use in the 1950's including the following:
| Buck-fisted | Gar-pawed | Left-kelly |
| Cack-handed | Gibble-fisted | Left-plug |
| Caggy | Golly-handed | Scoochy |
| Clicky | Kay-neived | Scrammy-handed |
| Corrie-fisted | Keck-fisted | Skiffle-handed |
| Cow-pawed | Keggy-handed | Skir-handed |
| Cuddy-wifter | Kerry | South-paw |
| Dolly-pawed | Kittaghy | Spuddy-handed |
| Squiffy |
More recently, we have also been told about:
- Gollie Handed (Hull area in N.E. England)
- Because their rudders were attached to the right side, ancient sailing vessels were docked to the left. This side became the 'port side'. Today left-handers (mostly in the USA) are sometimes called 'Port Siders'.
- The term 'Southpaw' is derived from baseball. Parks were often built with the homeplate in the western corner of the field. When a left-handed pitcher was facing the batter, his throwing arm would be the closest to the south, thus the term 'Southpaw' was coined. Another name in America for a left hander playing baseball was to call a left handed batter was a hooker….
- When I was growing up in Warwickshire, UK, left handers were always referred to as Keggy or Kack Handed (or sometimes Peg Handed). I still tend to refer to someone left handed as Keggy!
- After reading about other names for left handed, I would like to add SCRAMMY, used in Bristol, UK
- We actually call it Corrie Fisted, but this derives from the name 'Kerr' (my surname!). The Kerr family inthe Borders region were mostly left handed - in fact, the built their houses and castle's with a left handed bias (spiral staircases the 'wrong' way round so that they could fight with their swords and defend on the stairs).
- Another name for being left handed is....Taggy handed which is used in Lincolnshire, UK
- In Ancient Hebrew, left-handers were called "Eetair yad y'mini", i.e."constricted right-hand". Ouch!
- Born and raised in central Birmingham, I was always called CAGGY-HANDED as a child - yet another nickname?
- In Fife, Scotland we use corrie fistit (fisted)
- My wife is from the north -east and she calls me cuddy handed and here in Yorkshire I'm cack - handed
- In some parts of the UK (I always thought it was a Scottish term, but a bit of Googling reveals it may be Irish in origin) Catholics are referred to as Left Footers”, according to what I found out, it seems the Catholics used spades (possibly for turf or peat cutting, possibly just generally), with a lug for putting your left foot on whilst digging, whilst the Protestants used spades with the lug on the right.
- In America, a left-handed snowboarder is called "Goofy," and a lefty board is called a "Goofy Board." This is because the board is designed to slant in the opposite direction of righty boards.
- The same goes for surfing, in the USA a left handed )footed) surfer is called goofy foot. The right foot is forward and the left is used for steering.
- I grew up in Leicestershire and was called ‘cack-handed’ and ‘corky dobber’ I’ve never heard the latter since, but my mother used it, as an affectionate term.
- Widdershins is another, meaning anything against the 'norm' e.g. anti-clockwise or, indeed left-handed
If you have any more examples or any comments or corrections, please use the comments link at the bottom to add them.
Cack-handed and similar
This is a name that is still in common usage in the UK and seems to have variants all round the world. It is actually quite offensive and one explanation I have found is:
| The direct association is with cack, another fine Old English term, for excrement or dung. Cachus was Old English for a privy, and both words come from Latin cacare, to defecate. It almost certainly comes from the very ancient tradition, which has developed among peoples who were mainly right-handed, that one reserved the left hand for cleaning oneself after defecating and used the right hand for all other purposes. At various times this has been known in most cultures. Some consider it rude even to be given something using the left hand. So to be left-handed was to use the cack hand or be cack-handed. |
Not very nice! We have also been advised of other similar usages...
- In Thailand we do not have any nick name for the L/H but we have one word to amuse the L/H people that "E SAI PAI KEE " it's mean the people who use the hand which touch the [excrement]
Playing up the right
A more subtle way of downplaying left-handedness is by praising the right. Thus we have:
- Dextrous, dexterity - skillful in performing tasks, especially with the hands - from the Latin "dexter": right.
- Ambidextrous - having two right hands.
- Adroit - skillful - from the French "droit": right.
- The Queen's motto: Dieu et mon droit - God and my right
- To sit on the right hand side of someone is an especially favoured position.
On the other hand! - Here is the etymology of the word left from Wiktionary: From Middle English, left, lift, luft; from Anglo-Saxon, left, lyft lit. worthless, weak. Says it all really! The English word "adroit" meaning skillful, comes from the French " a droit," meaning to the right. ~~likewise,~~ The English "maladroit" meaning clumsy comes from French "mal a droit," literally meaning "bad at right."
Sayings where the word "left" does not fit
| Might is left-handed | Wait for Mr Left to come along | The divine left of Kings |
| His heart is in the left place | He's not in his left mind | It will all come left in the end |
Sayings where the word "right" does not fit
| Right in the lurch | He was right at the post | The right luggage office |
| Nothing but cold right-overs | A right-handed compliment | A man with two right feet |
Positive references to left-handed
We have been hunting for positive language references to left-handed but are struggling to find any!
- "Out of left field" (a baseball expression?) means unexpected and often novel, but it isn't definitely positive
- "The only positive use of "left" I know of is that "aristocrat" has the Greek word for "left" in its root, but then Greece was the birthplace of democracy - they may not have meant "aristocrat" to be complimentary either." Unfortunately, even this 'positive' is flawed: - "Aristocrat is from aristo- meaning "best" and krat- meaning "rule". Aristeros does mean left, but it's not the root here." More on this from Catherine at UCLA... I was intrigued by your claim in this month's LHC Newsletter that "aristocracy" has a root meaning "left", but I am not sure you are right. "Aristos" means "best" (the superlative of "agathos" meaning "good") and "kratia" is "rule, mastery", and I think you may have confused "aristos" with "aristeros", which means "left"; but, interestingly, "aristeros" is a euphemism (the Greeks were fond of these—thus the Furies were called "the kindly ones", "Eumenides"). Since something on the left (e.g. a portent) was unlucky (!), one didn't refer to it as such, but as "aristeros"—that is, using a fake comparative of "aristos": roughly, "bester". "Euônumos" meaning "of good name, honoured, fortunate" was also used. So I'm afraid the ancient Greeks were as leftist as everyone else seems to be.
- Have you heard anything about the Russian writer Leskov and his The Tale of Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea? You can find some information in English following this wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levsha What I can add to this is that Leskov was a lefty himself. In that time when he wrote his story about the Levsha (Lefty) the word "levsha" (Rus. left-handed, lefty) was used in reference to a bad, unskillful and poor craftsman and one of the implications of the tale was that even a bad Russian craftsman was better that an English one. But, lefty Leskov played some kind of a trick with the word "levsha" because very soon after the tale had been published and read, the word "levsha" changed its meaning absolutely radically!!!! Ever since then, it has meant a skillful, artful, experienced, trustful craftsman. Nowadays a lot of workshops are called Levsha (Lefty) to attract more customers/clients because it means that very professional guys work there! :) So, at least we have some positive meaning of the word "lefty" thanks to Nikolai Leskov.
If you come across any more, please add them as comments to this page.
Articles on Left Handed Language
Left handed journalist Gary Nunn wrote an excellent article in The Guardian, Jan 2013 titled "Clumsy and cack-handed? Lefties are leaders, not losers"
Comments 132
He was a Lance Bombardier Gun Layer in WW2 in Italy. Then on to Greece and Palestine until 1947.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the cack in cack-handed comes from English dialect keck, meaning awkward, which in turn came from Old Norse keikr, meaning "bent backward.
The term is 'goll-er-ker', I'd be interested if anyone else knows of this and can give any background and an accurate spelling.
I have a cod theory about left handedness not just being a question of genes and environment which revolves around the often seen ability of left hand dominant people to use their right hand particularly in relation to sport - I read somewhere years ago that left handers have superior hand eye co-ordination. It could be that I'm just observing people who have grown up left handed in a right handed dominated world and environment has forced their superior ability but I like to think of left handedness as being something of a positive mutation arrived at beyond right handedness. I play snooker and billiards and notice many left handed players use the rest right handed, the rest is not a handed implement, which I often thinks supports my theory.
I'm right handed.
something good about left handed people they should be appreciated that atleast they are getting adjusted in this right handed world where everything from scissors the benches in the school and even books these all things are made for right handed people
And secondly left handers are not always that bad each and every time i agree that in the last decade it was considered evil but this generation has to change or else it will be so much discouraging for lefties
The only difference between left and right handed people is that
They think with their right side of the brain most of the
time and the handedness which we prefer
And please stop these all discriminating
Because the pain whuch is caused by sharp objects can be cured with time but the pain caused by words can never get cured even in the due time
This means clumsy or not skilled, especially in the field of DIY.
When I got to comprehensive school (aged 11-16) or big school, as we called it, I was suddenly allowed to write with my left hand. However, I was never taught to use my left hand, so much of what I do is right handed.
I can use either hand for most things, but writing (most call it's drunk spider jumping from an ink pot) is still left handed, although these days it's very limited due to arthritis.
"PALLY HANDED". and " PALLY. JOOKIT".
What amazes me is that the % of left handlers internationally remains the same, generation after generation.
I am so pleased to be a 'leftie' in the best sense of the word!
I am not sure there is a correlation between "Left" as in handedness and "Left" as in abandoned. (Left at the post, the left-luggage office.) In this case, 'left' is the past participle of 'leave', which has nothing to do with handedness!
Wasn't a primary indicator of witches being left handed for the ducking stool brigade?
This quote is from a dear friend of mine.
cuddy wifter
A left-handed person. Old English slang.
He's not right-handed, he's a cuddy wifter.
If anyone knows its origin and what the 'wifter' bit means in particular, I'd be grateful.
I chose her from a litter of 5 kitties, 3 of which were almost identical EXCEPT this one. She had a specific mark on her left paw distinguishing her from the others. I instantly knew, being a lefty, she was for me.
İ trawled the Internet for positive references to lefties until I finally found her perfect name!
Hidari'k'ki... It's Japanese for 'Left Handed' so there you go, in English, my kittens name is 'Left Handed' lol
There are a couple of other left-handed and ambi-positive mentions in the Bible too.
And since God is no respector of persons (Galatians 3), it might be mentioned that God accepts left-handers. Those who persecute and shame others, especially for something as trivial as handedness, will surely have to answer to God for their actions, if nothing more than to get forgiveness.
The use of right and left to describe good and evil will probably not end for a long time. But I wonder if the ratio of left and right handedness shouldn't naturally be 50 percent, were it not for the "guidance" of others.
As for me, I hope to sit someday at the right hand of the Lord, and to hold his hand with... my left hand. Lol.
It always annoyed me that the usual Esperanto word for left is "maldekstra". The "mal-" prefix, by the way, means "opposite of", not "bad", but I still would rather have an independent root for left, not just "opposite of right", which to me implies that the right side is more important. I'd bet you anything Dr. Zamenhof (the inventor) was a righty.
Whereas Toki Pona (a language designed to express the meaning of life, with a total vocabulary of about 120 words) doesn't have any word for right or left, or any convenient way of talking about these concepts.
So far the one with the least dextrocentric bias seems to be Lojban (a language designed to be logical, syntactically unambiguous, and culturally neutral). It has "zunle", left; and "pritu", right; and while there is probably some bias deep down in the etymology, the words themselves are strictly directional and have no other connotation.
Adding to Catherine's comment from UCLA on the root of the Greek word Aristocrat: she's correct. However:
Lefty in Greek is Αριστερός--its etymology in Ancient Greek means excellent (άριστος).
Αριστερός in modern Greek means one whose political leaning is towards the Left, socialist or communist.
A couple of weeks ago I was at my mothers for tea.
While trying to open a can of beans mum piped up and chortled'"My God you're CORKY HANDED"!!!!(
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6773-lefthanders-win-in-handtohand-combat#.VPDaDqDg5oO
I was left hander before. But, When I was elementary school student,
teacher said left hander is bad. I changed right hander by beating.
So, I use right hand in writing. but, except writing, I use left hand.
Bcs, It's easier than using right hand. haha.
I had listened many advise about left hander's badthing like left hander give damage
when I eat meal with right hander.
Well...But, I'm a left hander or maybe an ambidexter...haha..
All left hander, cheer up!!
heart side, west handed, west side, liver side, skillful handed, prominent hand, most skillful hand, benjamin handed, benjamin side, gemini handed, gemini side, planet mercury associated hand/side
I love 'west' handed and skillful handed and most skillful hand
my husband was brought up in Yorkshire
while his mother was from Manchester,
so I really don't know where the following term for
a left hander comes from :
keggywifter.
But I like it! Guess the 'keggy' element
and 'cack' aren't too far apart.
(Lefthanded and proud of it)
I guess if that was the penalty, I'd switch....but not for any other reason.
Lefty and proud
I just wanna ask you a question :
I'm from Egypt and teenagers here in our country some of them use the word Left as a bad meaning as to say something is bad .
so i wanted to know if i heard such words in school when is school is on what should i do ??
they won't say it to me but i mean when they tell each other
so should i pretend not to hear anything ?? or should i stand up and argue with people saying such words ??
thanks so much for your concern and i'm very happy about this website <3
Left in the lurch - Abandoned in a difficult position without help.In fact, the phrase originates from the French board game of lourche or lurch, which was similar to backgammon and was last played in the 17th century. The game came to England from continental Europe and its name derives from the word 'left', which is 'lurtsch' in dialect German and 'loyrtz' in Middle Dutch. Why call a game 'left'? The most plausible explanation (and regular readers will know that, in etymology, plausibility isn't everything) is that it relates to the bad feeling against the left hand that was then commonplace in many cultures.
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/left-in-the-lurch
P.S. I decided to call it handist.
Lets start from basics - word "right-sided" - Правый(pravij) - Right sided, real, is truth.
And now closer to the "left-sided" word - Левый(leviy)- Non-existant, fake, false, bad quality product, wrong choosen.
Он левый(On leviy) - *He* is not one of ours, *He* is not made for this (job).
Левша блоху подковал(Levsha blohu podkoval) - Leftie that shod a flea. From an old russian tale about a man who shod a flea. Actually, means the greatest professionality level ever possible, while being strongly unstandart at the same time.
Also, a mental picture of word "levij"(left-sided): "this is unidentified and\or definately wrong and useless\dangerous"
I myself was made to write R handed and was "bullied" by teachers at infant school into "making" me write with my right hand. Did not work, they made me a radical, at 70 years old, I am still one. I had an accident to my left hand (temporary only) and guess what, I had to write "voluntarily" with my RHand, which I enjoy doing even today.
Years ago I used to correspond from Australia, with a fellow in NZ, also a LHander, who cast a net for a similar spirit who could read/write in mirror script” and we sent "Air Mail" letters to each other (it was fun reading and writing them without a mirror)
.
As a side line, just to fill time in at one period, I taught myself to write with both hands at the same time, from the middle of the paper and I can write with my principle hand (left) upside down and my RH normal direction at the same time. Only thing to do is to smarten up and tidy the handwriting RH as I am on auto pilot with the LH.
I use the exercise now to try to keep the dreaded debilitating brain diseases at bay.
Good luck to all potential strugglers, don't give up and let the *******???!!! 's grind you down, you're smarter than they are - everything’s made easy for them -you HAVE to come to terms with it.
Old Cack Handed Radical (and damned proud of it).
I was left handed, forced to write with my right hand and became "ambiawkard" (I do not think I am skillfull with either hand as the latin root "dexterous", which seems to inply in the words "ambidexterous", wich etymollogically refers to having two skillful right hands.
What will happen to my brain if I be change myself to become fully left-handed, including writing?
In recent years there has been a lot of discussion of NEUROPLASTICITY (the lifelong ability of the brain to change and rewire itself, in response to new stimulations) and NEUROGENESIS (The ability of the brain to create new neurons and new connetions between them).
How do these two ideas apply to a change of a forced right-hander to a full left hander?
Is my natural lefthandedness like old unused wiring which can become stronger with use? Are the old lefthander's connections still there in an undevelopperd way? More importantly, will the change to full lefthandedness affect my present mental abilities, such as attention, memory or executive functions?
Luis
West side of the body/Right brain dominance....or a 'WESTY'/'LEVSHA' or what some people call left side of the body....IS easily neuromuscularly devolped through use, and use and use and use and use and use and use....you get the message...practice makes perfect so to say...
keep being right brained/lefthanded dominant/lefty
PEACE
We learned that by watching the movie"Rocky"
I've never thought of it as a disadvantage, just a distinguishing feature that sets me apart from the masses.
Meanings gradually developed from use of these terms in the ancient languages. In many modern European languages, including English, the word for the direction "right" also means "correct" or "proper", and also stands for authority and justice. In most Slavic languages the root prav is used in words carrying meanings of correctness or justice. In French, droit(e) (cognate to English direct) means both "right" and "straight", as well as "law" and the legal sense of "right", while gauche means "left" and is also a synonym of maladroit, literally "not right", meaning "clumsy". Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and German have similar constructs. The Spanish term diestro and the Italian term destro mean both "right-handed" and "skillful". The contemporary Italian word sinistra has both meanings of sinister and left (the masculine adjective for sinister being sinistro), and maldestro means "clumsy". The Spanish siniestra has both, too, although the "left" meaning is less common and is usually expressed by izquierda, a Basque word that made its way into Portuguese as well. In some Spanish-speaking countries, to do something por izquierda means to engage in corrupt conduct or employ illegitimate means, whereas por derecha or a derechas means to do it the right (legitimate) way. In Portuguese, the most common word for left-handed person, canhoto, was once used to identify the devil, and canhestro, a related word, means "clumsy". In German, recht means "right" (direction) and "right" (correct), while the word link means "left" and that someone is back-stabbing or a liar.
The Dutch word links also means "left" and "clumsy" or "awkward". In Irish, deas means "right side" and "nice". Ciotóg is the left hand and is related to ciotach meaning "awkward"; ciotógach (kyut-OH-goch) is the term for left-handed. In Welsh, the word chwith means "left", but can also mean "strange", "awkward", or "wrong". The Scots term for left-handedness is corrie fistit. The term can be used to convey clumsiness.
In Finnish, the word oikea means both "right" (okay, correct) and "right" (the opposite of left). In Swedish, vänster means "left". The term vänsterprassel means "infidelity", "adultery" and "cheating". From this term the verb vänstra (lit. "lefting") is derived.
In Hungarian, the word for right is jobb, which also means "better". The word for left is bal, which also means "bad". In Polish, the word prawo means: right as well as law, prawy means: lawful; the word lewy means: left (opposite of right), and colloquial "illegal" (opposite of legal). In Estonian, the word pahem stands for both "left" and "worse" and the word parem stands for both "right" and "better".
In Chinese culture, the adjective "left" (Chinese character: å·¦, Mandarin: zuÇ’) sometimes means "improper" or "out of accord". For instance, the phrase "left path" (å·¦é“, zuÇ’dao) stands for unorthodox or immoral means.
In Korean, the word for right is oreun (오른), to be compared to the word meaning morally proper, oreheun (옳ì€) which shares the same pronunciation.
In Hebrew, as well as in other ancient Semitic and Mesopotamian languages, the term "left" was a symbol of power or custody. The left hand symbolized the power to shame society, and was used as a metaphor for misfortune, natural evil, or punishment from the gods. This metaphor survived ancient culture and was integrated into mainstream Christianity by early Catholic theologians, such as Ambrose of Milan, to modern Protestant theologians, such as Karl Barth, to attribute natural evil to God in explaining God's omnipotence over the universe.
The left side is often associated with awkwardness and clumsiness. The Spanish expression "tener dos pies izquierdos", in English, the expression "to have two left feet", refers to clumsiness in the domains of football or dancing. A "left-handed compliment" is considered one that is unflattering or dismissive in meaning. The Polish expression "mieć dwie lewe rÄ™ce", Dutch "twee linkerhanden hebben", German "zwei linke Hände haben", the Bulgarian expression "dve levi ratse", French "avoir deux mains gauches", Hungarian kétbalkezes and Czech "MÃt obÄ› ruce levé" all mean "to have two left hands"—that one is clumsy or is a very poor handyman. The English equivalent of the phrase is "being all thumbs". Moreover, the German idiom "mit dem linken Fuß aufgestanden sein", the Spanish expression "levantarse con el pie izquierdo", the French expression "s'être levé du pied gauche"and the Hungarian expression "bal lábbal kel fel" (literally, to have gotten up with the left foot) mean to have a bad day and do everything wrong or unsuccessfully, related to the English expression "to get up on the wrong side of the bed". The Welsh phrase "tu chwith allan" (left side out) refers to an object being inside-out. In Russian, the use of the term nalyevo means "on the left", but can also connotate taking bribes or "sneaky" behavior. Balszerencse (lit. "left luck") is Hungarian for "bad luck".
There are many colloquial terms used to refer to a left-handed person, e.g. "southpaw" or "goofy" (USA). Some are just slang or jargon words, while other references may be offensive or demeaning, either in context or in origin. In some parts of the English-speaking world, "cack-handed" is slang for left-handed, and is also used to mean clumsy. The origin of this term is disputed, but some suggest it is derived from the Latin cacare, in reference to the habit of performing ablutions with the left hand, leaving the right hand "clean". However, other sources suggest that it is derived from the Old Norse word keikr, meaning "bent backwards". Australians frequently use "cacky-handed". A less common Australian slang word for a left-handed individual is the term Molly-Dooker, whose origins cannot be ascertained for certain.
I wished she hadn't done that. I was 3yrs old. This is a heavy burden to place on a small child, I feel. There was a stigma about being a lefty. She finally got smart and just turned the paper so I didn't cramp up my hand to write. My uncle was left handed, and he was the wild one in his family, and because I was left-handed I also became the wild one in my family too. I became the "Devil's Spawn".
There are still books at the Library that are negative about being left-handed.
You see, as an adult, ( 54 yrs) I read books about how the brain works. The left hemisphere of a person's brain is the creative part, and the right side of the brain is the analytical part.
I was even working a job, when my brain went tilt, (It's like my brain had an overload melt down). I really can't explain what really happened to me. I realized I was working the wrong job, because I didn't have an analytical mind. I found out that all I would be is the creative part, which I had no idea what kind of work would be suited for me.
I feel at 3 yrs old that my brain was compromised. My parents thought I wouldn't make much out of myself, and they were right.
There's not a whole lot of positive information, about being left-handed, except we are few.
"Ani Sma'ly" (in Hebrew means I'm left handed)
I kick leftfootedly
I play basketball lefthandedly, (can play both, but easily prefer left hand and simply do that)
I write lefhandedly, (once again can do both)
I draw lefthandedly, (once again cad do both)
I am stronger with my left hand and left foot
I am very artistica and creative
I am very philosophical, inventive, full of iniative and very determined
I love God and my supernatural gifts HE has given me
I am psychic
I am a red haired person,...have red in my hair on my scalp and I have a orange/red beard
I am a 'gemini'...which actually comes from the word 'jamin'/'jamini'...and Benjamites are actually the lefthanded tribe of israel and the word 'benjamin' comes from the words 'ben jamini'...which means 'son of Jamini'
So I am definitely a lefty and I was even born on the day of Gemini/Mercury/Wednesday
Btw...all Geminis are at least ambidextrous....Mercury rule the left arm in astrology...and the Moon rules the left leg....my sun sign is Gemini and Mercry rules Gemini...and my moon sign is Taurus....Taurus is THE moon sign to have...very intuitive and strong emotionally...emotions = moon in astrology
See...I was meant to be lefthanded and God knew what HE was doing...so BE ENCOURAGED EVERYONE...YOU WERE MEANT TO BE LEFTHANDED....GOD MADE YOU THAT WAY....NATURALLY OF COURSE...
peace
Right handed people have more dental plaque and groves on there left side compared to left handed people who have the same situation on their right side. SO being right handed has created problems for right handed people.
Both my children write left-handed but do everything right-handed. I wonder if this is from copying me when doing homework with them?
Would appreciate receiving e-mails. Any lefties out there?
Also, I ony just discovered that I am left eyed, and cameras are made in a way that some a left side person, simply can not use.
My e-mail is appledore2@aol.com
thanks
Does left handedness run in your family or are you the only one? Regards, Laura aka Lefty Louie
We are left with what is right,
and what is right
is what we are left with .
Tom Kelly
LIVING IN THE U S A
The right handed may have a lot of trouble understanding this.
You mentioned Chinese but I'll add a little more to it from a culture side. The Chinese character for left, zuo (左）, is a combination of a hand and a tool, meaning that in ancient China the hand you use a tool with was your left. In contrast the word for right, you (å³ï¼‰ is a hand with a mouth, meaning the hand you use to eat with.
The slang term for a left is zuo piezi. Zuo for left, pie (peeyeeah, not like pie) one of the standard brush strokes in writing Chinese characters, and zi, for a person, a lad. So put together it means "A person who does a pie stroke with their left hand." Up to now I've seen and heard nothing but amazement that I write Chinese with my left hand. Chinese attribute this to being extremely intelligent and a person mentions it every time they see me write. Why would you ever want to change with attention like that.
FYI - There are many Chinese who do things with their left hands, particularly eat with chopsticks, but writing nowadays is ALWAYS done with the right hand, though many calligraphy masters (more like painting) did it with their left hand.
I translate and describe some persian sentences for example :
- ( Dastesh Chape ) his hand is left : it means he is a stealer
- ( Chapool ) Skewed to the left : someone who can not see or aim properly . for example when someone shoots a ball to the wrong direction , people say he is a Chappol !
- ( Az dandeye Chap Boland shodan ) To wake up from the Left Rib : when someone is angry or moody or behaves unusual people use this phrase
- ( Chap Kardan - Chape shodan ) To overturn : when a car or something overturns
- ( Chap oftadan ) to behave rudely or turning into an enemy : when bad things or arguments between two friends or people happens and one of them behaves rudely afterwards because he is angry with his friends.
- ( Chap negah kardan ) to squint : it means if a persan looks or behaves improperly toward someone or something
but in general nowadays Iranian People respect left handers and consider us as samrt and intelligent people with high IQ level and believe me ! Lefties Rock !
And all others who were born Catholic. When I was first in Sunday school, I automatically was reprimanded for making the sign of the cross with my left hand, and had to learn to do it right handed. I wonder if nowadays I could just start using my let hand? What are they going to do to me - there are no more nuns with rulers (LOL)
Also my husband is an accomplished musician/composer and he sent me a copy of a story about how learning music makes this certain part of your brain bigger -- in anyone who learns it.
I wrote him back that Left handers always have to use Both Sides of our brains all the time, so ours are certainly larger and more balanced than others.
Mixing up right and left -- OMG when I am the navigator for my husband's driving, I will point my left arm to the left and say "take a right here"... At least by now he is used to it.
And the table siting, I always have to be at one or two ends (or at the head) because I will constantly bump into the person next to me. When I go out with a group or right handers, and I tell them this, they don't get it, but if they ever sit me betwee to right handers they get if really quickly.
I am going to church today and I will try blessing my self with my left hand and see if anyone drops over due to the Blasphemy of it. I'll let you know.
I have had some Behavioural Eye Therapy, and we were working on placing things that matched a moving wheel. the therapist was shocked she had never seen anyone use both hands on this exercise, well if it was on the left, I would use my left hand and on the right I would use my right hand. I didn't think it was odd.
Also I have discoveered, that I have worked out my living left handed in this right handed world that I do all my fine motor skills with my left hand, and almost all gross motor skills with my right. No one could teach me baseball left handed, etc.
I do enjoy being left handed now.
nancy
One comment I read, I think is very true, which is that us lefties had to learn to do many things righthanded. That is why I always say that my righthand is more 'developed' than a righthanded persons' lefthand. I am just used to doing more with my righthand than righthandedn people with their lefthand.
People are always amazed then I explain the small inconvieniences of being a lefty, such as the knives, canopeners, and even a golfcap, where the magnet for the marker is on the right. I always reach for the wrong side. But all in all I manage being a lefty just fine.
Another comment struck me aswell: I always want to make the cross sign in church with my lefthand, and was not allowed to! And indeed folding sheets with a righthanded person or moving furniture! It's fun to read that other people have that too!!
And I too have difficulties saying which is which, left or right. I mix them up quite easily.
Sonja from the Netherlands
I wasn't any good at hop tying as i had to sit the opposite side to every one else , but any job that needs to be done anti clock wise, i'm the person to do it . When knitting every thing is mirror image to the pattern ,as in if i'm knitting the right side ,it actually is the right .
At work they know when i am on duty as the tick is back to front ,mirror image , i make know apologies for it it's just easier to do . Just freaks people out sometimes lol
Also, one of my teachers in high school took us to a church built around 1300 and showed us the ceiling paintings and on the left side they showed demons and devils and such while the right side showed angels. He also mentioned that at a time when men and women would not sit together in church the women would sit on the the left side, thus protecting the men from evil..
To each and every one of you, fascinating posts! I call myself lefthanded, but I only use my left hand to write, draw and perform some types of precision tasks while I use my right hand for sewing/cutting with scissors, lifting, tasks that use tools and machinery and the like. (I think I even flip a bird with my right hand...just checked and yes I do :) I have no memory of how my hands ended up learning to do the things they do. Something I do recall are the red lines drawn through various letters in words in essays noting the variation of slant. I became very skilled in backslant. :)
I am a native Cantonese. I just want to verify that you're right about the Cantonese saying "zuo" it means hindering, in the way of something, which is seen as something bad.
Also my mother can remember the school offering to turn me right handed if she wanted....thankfully my mother told them to leave me alone and that I was pefectly fine as I was.
We Indians eat with hand & consume a cooked vegetable preparation more frequently than a salad in a meal. Hence the former is served on the right side of the plate. people often tend to look awkwardly when I take the cooked veg. on the left side.
'
In our community a left hander is called 'mashoto', this is neutral,meaning 'the one who uses the left hand' but the negative one is 'mkono wa mavi' which means the hand used in cleaning oneself after toilet.
my mum and dad are right handed and my3
brother and my sister im laft handed 1 brother
and my grandperant were righthanded, so may be
is some thing in the dna in fact if you look at the anceint
egyptian gods the power rod that they hold is in the left hand
and is more sacred than the ankh, look for your self and see
karen
my mum and dad are right handed and my3
brother and my sister im laft handed and 1 brother
and my grandperant were righthanded, so may be
is some thing in the dna in fact if you look at the anceint
egyptian gods the power rod that they hold is in the left hand
and is more sacred than the ankh, look for your self and see
karen
I can relate to Carole Nowells, my school experiences mirror hers, I too was hit with a ruler across the knuckles for writing with my left hand. It has left me with difficulty when I have to think about which is my left and which is my right. It would be interesting to know when Carole was educated, my experiences relate to the late 1960's.
My ex-husband and I are both left-handed, we both came from completly right-handed families and we had two children who are both right-handed, so left-handedness is not inherited in our cases.
The fact that we were both left handed ment that we could establish a left-handed household (as far as possilble), eg toilet roll on the left side, cutulry draw on the left and so on.
Things I find difficulty with, instructions and diagrams, they are always set out for right handed people. I get around this by setting every thing out as in the diagram and then reversing it all. Knitting patterns are the worst, it helps if you turn the pattern upside down. I learned to knit by sitting opposite a right-handed person and mirrored what she did. I find the written instructions impossible to follow because they are back to front for us left-handers.
Machines and machinary are also a problem, even something like a sewing machine is designed for the right-handed eye to follow. The family do not let me near a tin opener because I always wind them the wrong way and break them. When driving we choose to park on the opposite side to a right-handed person, it is difficult when carrying objects eg furniture with a right-handed person because they will turn the opposite way.
Have you ever done something as simple as folding a sheet or blanket with a right-handed person, it can be very frustrating ? I am sure most left-handed people have had documents and papers handed to them to sign angled to the right, pen placed on the right for them. People still seem shocked when I then reach across with my left hand take the pen and then re-angle the paper to the left to sign it.
I have found lots of positives about being left-handed, we can be good at sport, quick thinking, artistic, we have quick reflexes and we adapt well, we have to it enables us to live in a right-handed world.
Jane Taylor
Now they have two left handed (out of 3) grandchildren.
One of the grandchildren has two right handed parents and the other has one of each.
My sister-in-law wants me to teach her son to write, cut paper etc as I have neater skills than my lefty brother. My brother wants me to teach the same lad how to bat and play sports as he (my brother) was forced to play right handed and doesn't want to do the same to his son. As a girl nobody cared if I played left handed.
Lucky for me they never tried to make me use my right hand. Or at least if they did I didn't listen to them and just went on using my left, I didn't realize I was different until everyone got into trying to write things with their opposite hands and they all used their left, I couldn't understand why everything they'd try to write was so illegible with their left hands, so I tried it with my right hand and mine was actually half way neat. But, aside from that I knew I was different. I didn't meet a friend my age that was left handed until grade 7. He still seemed different though. The only person I know besides my mother and aunt that is left handed and seems to share interests like me is my music teacher, I only know he is left handed because when I was writing he seemed to notice and point out that we were both left-handed.
My friends even mock me sometimes for being left-handed. they will say "I'm ashley and I write with my left hand" or they will say they just don't understand how I can write with my left hand and ask me why I do.
The good thing is though, they seem to think I am much nicer than the average person and very talented when it comes to music and academics.
They do think I'm clumsy though, which when you try to use right handed things when you are left-handed it may not work out so well.
When we got into Primary 7 we got taught to crochet, unless you were a lefty! Our sewing teacher could not teach a left how to crochet so we had to knit while everyone else was learning this new skill. Talk about making a child feel inferior! Luckily for me my mum's friend is very skilled at crocheting and she taught me by simply sitting directly across from me so my left hand was opposite her right one and I just copied her movements. The only disadvantage is that when following a pattern I have to remember that technically I'm doing it backwards so when doing things like armholes I have to turn it round in my head.
b) I was being tested in a visual behavior test and the tester noticed something she had never seen before, and that was that I did all fine motor skills with my left hand and major motor skills with my right. That's how I adapted, no one could teach me left handed sports.
c) I was Catholic and when they were teaching us the sign of the cross, I could not understand why they would not let me do it with my left hand. I still don't.
d) When a lefty cuts and eats his meat, the implements never change hands, but righty's always have to change fork and knife to do it. never understood that.
e)I learned to crochet from a right handed person so I hold the hook and yarn the way a right hander does it, but to make my crochet, I do it backwards to all the right handed people. I move the yarn and crochet hook in the opposite way to right handed people.
f) I aways knew I was left handed, and left footed (always lead with the left foot), but I had no idea I was Left Eyed till I went shopping for camers, and I was limited to the few that I could use my left eye for the viewfinder. That was a wake up call.
Those are my little notes of life in America left handed...
Nancy
Apologies if this explanation has already been put forward but there are too many comments to read them all!
I suspect that you were not allowed to make the sign of the cross with your left hand because the left was associated with the Devil, 'the left hand path' was 'the Devil's path'.
Liz
You can buy left-handed guitars, but they are more expensive than a conventional guitar. One trick that some people use is to just to take the strings off their guitar, turn it round and re-string it the opposite way from 'normal' voila a left-handed guitar.
You're wrong - there's no such word like "leworeczcy" or "mankut" ("mańkut" is correct).
If you want to say that something is illegal, you use word "lewy" which means "left" in english.
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