I have always been reasonably observant and notice, among other things, those who write with their left hand and the differing ways in which they hold their pen. Writing of course may be a dying art and you may remember that some schools in Finland are experimenting with not teaching cursive script. Presumably this would mean that in future you would sign a document, say, with, er, a cross?! We are probably all becoming a little ambidextrous when it comes to more frequent use of a keyboard – exercising one’s digits and becoming able to enter data with either hand. Those of you who are left-handed when it comes to writing could tell me whether it makes any difference when you are using a keyboard?
Do you remember the successful 2011 film ‘One Day’ staring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess? It was based on David Nicholls’ book which had come out a couple of years earlier. In February this year Netflix’s version was available, starring Ambika Mod, the actor who played the junior doctor in ‘This is Going to Hurt’, as Emma and Leo Woodall as Dex. Maybe I am being a bit nerdy here, but did you notice that both actors are left-handed?
As is one of the opticians in our local Boots, Emma.
“I hope you don’t mind but I notice you’re left handed; I am always interested to see how individuals hold their pen.”
She explained one thing I hadn’t realised, that if you use a fountain pen or felt tip, it’s possible the fleshy edge of your hand gets dirty from contact with the ink ….. as its direction of travel is over the still-drying ink. She held up her hand by way of confirmation!
Do right-handed people always answer a telephone with their right hand and left- handed with their left? I continue to be amazed that so often you see someone, a right-handed person, on TV only capable of using the telephone, placed on the right of the desk, with their right ear. If they want to jot down something, they transfer the phone to their left ear, almost strangling themselves in the process! It’s actually the same for a cordless mobile; it’s much easier if you get into the habit of putting the phone to your left ear in the first place. (See PC 228 Thinking Out Loud April 2021.)
Driving on the left hand side of the road is something almost exclusively done by past members of the British Empire and now of The Commonwealth; for example Cyprus, New Zealand and Australia. The Republic of Eire, Ireland, drives on the left, reflecting its past linkage to England. Nigeria, a member of the Commonwealth but surrounded by countries that had been French colonies which drove on the right, changed from left to right in 1972. There was a rumour that certain car registration numbers would change one weekend, and the balance the following weekend; it was just a wind-up! India drives on the left, but not Pakistan, another Commonwealth country, even though they have a land border. Mind you if you have ever driven in rural India, you will have experienced both those who drive on the left and those who drive on the same road, on the right; very disconcerting!
I wondered why soldiers take the first step in a march with their left foot. Apparently it started in ancient Egypt; it’s the side of the body that your heart’s on and therefore your first step is taken with what your heart symbolises: “The heart, like the sun, is the central source of life, the seat of power, of courage and strength.” To avoid confusion, this is not the same as ‘by the right … quick march.’ The ‘right’ in this case refers to the side which is keeping the line; it could be ‘by the centre’ or even ‘by the left’.
Dressing ‘by the right’
I googled why we have ended up with left wing and right wing as definitions in our politics. We have the French to thank. At a pivotal point in the French Revolution in 1789, National Assembly members were asked to divide; those supporting the ‘Ancien Régime’ to line up to the right of the president and those supporters of the revolution to his left. Most democracies have examples of left-leaning liberal and conservative right-wing ideologies. On the extreme right of the political spectrum is Fascism, an authoritarian, ultra-nationalistic political ideology characterised by dictatorial leadership and suppression of an opposition.
Our brains are essentially two semi-hemispheres. The left is associated with logic, analytical thinking and language processing; ‘left-brained’ people pay attention to details and are ruled by logic. The right is linked with creativity, intuition and holistic thinking. ‘Right-brained’ people tend to do well in careers that involve creative expression and free-thinking, such as becoming an artist, psychologist or writer. Recent research suggests however that, whilst the two hemispheres function differently, they work together and compliment each other. Bundles of nerve fibres tie the two together creating some form of information highway!
The words ‘left’ and ‘right’ are translated in Portuguese as ‘esquerda’ and ‘direita’, in German as ‘links’ and ‘rechts’, in Spanish as ‘izquierdo’ and ‘derecho’, in Italian as ‘sinistra’ and ‘destra’ and in French as ‘gauche’ and ‘droite’. I love the way that ‘left’ in Italian sounds like ‘sinister’ in English and the unintended connection to left-wing politics. In French the word for ‘left’ has another meaning, one who’s clumsy and awkward. It could be that left-handed people might appear awkward trying to manager in a mostly right-handed world or perhaps because right-handed people appear awkward when trying to use their left hand. Anyway, it’s a nice word to describe someone who’s unsophisticated and socially awkward: “a shy and gauche teenager.”
In the western world we probably forget that traditionally Arabs eat and drink with their right hand, as it’s believed that the devil would eat with his left. If you are left handed, you need to learn to use your right for eating and for handshakes. And the left hand is exclusively used for wiping your ……
Right?
Richard 29th March 2024
Hove
postcards 