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Some daily problems may just come from being left handed!
The world's first and biggest Left handed Shop
Left Handed Language
Left-handers have been linguistically abused for centuries! There are hundreds of (mainly abusive) terms for left-handers.
There are a lot of sayings where "right" is good and "left" is bad e.g., "being in your right mind", "the divine right of kings", it will be all right in the end" as against being "left out", having "two left-feet", "a left-handed compliment" (one that is not really meant!).
Even the word for "left-handed" in many languages is very negative:
| Language | Word for Left Handed | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Greek | Skaios | Ill-omened, awkward |
| Italian | Mancino | Crooked, maimed |
| Spanish | Zurdo | Reverse - No Ser Zurdo = Clever |
| French | Gauche | Awkward, clumsy |
| Dutch | Linkshandig | To "have two left hands" means to be clumsy. |
| German | Links, Linkisch | Awkward |
| Norwegian | Kjevhendt | Crooked-handed (also advised to us as keivhent, left-hander) |
| Swedish | Vänsterhänt | |
| Australia | Mollie Dooker | Something to do with having fists like a girl |
| Portuguese | Canhoto | |
| Latin | Sinister Dexter |
On the left-hand side On the right hand side (dextrous) |
For a more complete list and lots of comments from visitors see the Left handed language page on the Anything Left Handed website.
If you have any more words to add to this list or can help further with origins / meanings / alternatives, you can add them as coomments on that page.
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