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The way I remember is that the Romans associated the left with bad things, with this ultimately making its way into English in the word "sinister" [1] As this
by mannykannot 7y ago
The way I remember is that the Romans associated the left with bad things, with this ultimately making its way into English in the word "sinister" [1]
As this association was extended to left-handed people, its use nominally perpetuates an ancient slur, but I think we can put that aside.
[1] https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/39092/how-did-sinister-the-latin-word-for-left-handed-get-its-current-meaning#39094 https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/39092/how-did-si...
- jupp0r 7y agoInteresting, thanks for explaining.
- koala_man 7y agoAnd here I've just been using the fact that "right" also means "correct" in English
- mannykannot 7y agoI never thought about it before, but I wonder if there is a connection? - along the lines of "correct" and "just" (in the sense of ethically correct) being the opposite of bad / evil? Some people here [1] think so, but "right" appears to have Germanic roots (but then again, perhaps the idea of right/good and left/bad may predate the Romans, and maybe goes back to the time of proto- Indo-European, or even further.) "Right" also has the meaning of "upright" (as in right angle) or, archaically, as "straight", and the normal processing path might be regarded as the straight one in the railway metaphor. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/2cdshk/etymology_of_rightrightright/ https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/2cdshk/etymology...
- pvg 7y agoThere is a connection it's just that the 'right-as-not-left' bit is the newer development. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=right https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=right
- JoshTriplett 7y agoI usually just treat it as a pun between "Right/Left" and "Right/Wrong".
- belenos46 7y agoBingo. A left handed person is sinistrous, a right handed person is dexterous. An interesting place this is preserved is in heraldry[0], and I've also heard it used in cards (a King, in red, facing the dexter). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_and_sinister https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_and_sinister
- ubertaco 7y agoYeah, I've heard the mnemonic "an Either contains either the Right answer or else whatever's Left", which is simple/punny enough to be memorable.
- dmix 7y agoThat perfectly captures what it does too. Nice one.