3 ms·
dexter is Latin for right and sinister is left, rotatory is probably rotation and hat fit in with polarization. Where does levor... come from for left? Perhap
by gerdesj 2y ago
dexter is Latin for right and sinister is left, rotatory is probably rotation and hat fit in with polarization.
Where does levor... come from for left? Perhaps a newer Latin "left" than I was taught?
- gravescale 2y agoIt comes from the Latin "laevus". Funnily enough, although "sinister" came to mean "the bad side", it may have come from Proto-Indo-European for the "favourable side".
- gerdesj 2y agoIn politics in the UK, there is a left and right side of the "house". Currently the Conservatives are the right and Labour are the left. Neither party existed when the UK Parliament was initially created. I wonder whether the old Latin (right == good/left == dodgy) thing has been perpetrated here or it it is coincidental. I also wonder whether old Latin speakers really had a snag with sinister ie left handers or is that a modern affectation.
- ChainOfFools 2y agoKnowing that ambidextrous thus means "both right (hands)" makes me marvel at how such a brazenly politically incorrect figure of speech has for so long remained undetected by the cultural police thanks to a linguistic camoflauge that mimics medical-sounding jargon.