View Poll Results: Left or right handed?

Voters
73. You may not vote on this poll
  • Left

    17 23.29%
  • Right

    48 65.75%
  • Mixed Dominance

    8 10.96%
Page 1 of 5 12345 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 73

Thread: Left or right handed?

  1. #1
    Former Staff Senior Contributor Ironduke's Avatar
    Join Date
    02 Aug 03
    Location
    Arlington, Virginia
    Posts
    10,132

    Left or right handed?

    Are you left or right handed?

    I write with my left hand, but for all tasks involving the use of my arm, I use my right arm.

    Some snippets from Wikipedia:
    Some left-handed people consider themselves oppressed, even to the point of prejudice. Etymology often lends weight to the argument:

    In many European languages, "right" stands for authority and justice: German and Dutch, recht, French, droit, Spanish, diestro; in most Slavic languages the root prav is used in words carrying meanings of correctness or justice. Being right-handed has also historically been thought of as being skillful: the Latin word for right-handed is "dexter," as in dexterity; indeed, the Spanish term diestro means both "right-handed" and "skillful".

    Meanwhile, the English word "sinister" comes from Latin and it originally meant "left" but took on meanings of "evil" or "unlucky" by time of the Classical Latin era. "Sinister" comes from the Latin word sinus meaning "pocket": a traditional Roman toga had only one pocket, located on the left side for the convenience of a right-handed wearer. The contemporary Italian word sinistra has both meanings of sinister and left. The Spanish siniestra has both, too, although the 'left' meaning is less common and is usually expressed by 'izquierda,'[15] a Basque word. The German word for left is links, and the adjective link in German has the meaning of "slyly" or "devious", while linken means "to betray" or "to cheat" (sb.).

    A left-hander was supposed to be not only unlucky, but also awkward and clumsy, as shown in the French gauche and the German links and linkisch. As these are all very old words, they support theories indicating that the predominance of right-handedness is an extremely old phenomenon.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 ancient China, the left has been the "bad" side. The adjective "left" (左 Mandarin: zuo) means "improper" or "out of accord." For instance, the phrase "left path" (左道 Mandarin: zuodao) stands for illegal or immoral means. In some parts of China, some adults can still remember suffering for the "crime" (with suitable traumatic punishments) of not learning to be right-handed in both primary and secondary schools, as well as in some "keeping-good-face" families.

    In Norwegian, the expression venstrehåndsarbeid (left-hand work) means "something that is done in a sloppy or insatisfactory way".

    Even the word "ambidexterity" reflects the bias. Its intended meaning is, "skillful at both sides." However, since it keeps the Latin root "dexter," which means "right," it ends up conveying the idea of being "right-handed at both sides."
    Cross-dominance, also known as mixed-handedness, mixed dominance and cross laterality, is a motor skills manifestation in which a person not necessarily being truly ambidextrous favors one hand for some crucial and precise fine motor skill operations and the other hand for others tasks. It can be readily observed, for example, in some police force members who hold a pistol with one hand and write with the other.

    It can also refer to mixed laterality, which refers to a person favoring eyes, ears, feet, or hands on opposite sides of the body. Cross-dominance can often be a problem when shooting or in activities that require aim, as the mind usually focuses on a side.

  2. #2
    Staff Emeritus
    Join Date
    03 Aug 03
    Location
    Toronto, Canada
    Posts
    2,042
    I'm left handed, the only thing I am right handed in is hockey.

  3. #3
    Ex-Wabber Defense Professional
    Join Date
    10 Dec 04
    Posts
    7,029
    Ambidextrous, except for writing- RH. All else is either/or no pref.
    "We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." -President Barack Obama 11/25/2008

  4. #4
    Official Thread Jacker Senior Contributor gunnut's Avatar
    Join Date
    27 Jan 06
    Location
    DPRK, Demokratik People's Republik of Kalifornia
    Posts
    22,082
    I'm right handed except for 2 tasks: driving and batting.

    I can only drive with my left hand. Right hand is too stupid to hold the wheel.

    I can only bat with my left hand. Right hand just feels weird. It wasn't always that way. I bought a right handed batting glove and got used to hitting left handed. However, if I pick up a bat for anything other than hitting a baseball, I would be right handed.

    I voted right handed because my left handedness is too specific.
    "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

  5. #5
    Official Thread Jacker Senior Contributor gunnut's Avatar
    Join Date
    27 Jan 06
    Location
    DPRK, Demokratik People's Republik of Kalifornia
    Posts
    22,082
    Quote Originally Posted by ZFBoxcar View Post
    I'm left handed, the only thing I am right handed in is hockey.
    That's just a weird thing I noticed about hockey players. Usually right handed people shoot left in hockey, if they started young. Most people who started later shoot the same hand as their dominant hand. Why is that?
    "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

  6. #6
    Senior Contributor HKDan's Avatar
    Join Date
    23 May 06
    Location
    Shanghai
    Posts
    871
    Im left handed, but an evil housekeeper when I was little taught me to use chopsticks with my right hand using the old time tested method of open hand to back of head. I can still eat with either hand.

  7. #7
    Senior Contributor
    Join Date
    03 Dec 06
    Posts
    819
    Me right handed...although i really should try to be more ambidextrous.

  8. #8
    Military Professional
    Join Date
    15 Sep 06
    Posts
    6,755
    I am definitely ambidextrous, as I am equally gauche with either hand!
    Semper in excretum. Solum profunda variat.

  9. #9
    Staff Emeritus Julie's Avatar
    Join Date
    04 Aug 03
    Location
    Georgia, USA
    Posts
    10,597
    I read somewhere back awhile ago, that lefties were more intelligent. I think it was even discussed here a long time back. The left-handers I've ever known were highly intelligent.

    For me, I am right-handed in everything.

  10. #10
    Senior Contributor
    Join Date
    03 Dec 06
    Posts
    819
    Quote Originally Posted by Julie View Post
    I read somewhere back awhile ago, that lefties were more intelligent. I think it was even discussed here a long time back. The left-handers I've ever known were highly intelligent.

    For me, I am right-handed in everything.
    There is no such thing as lefties are more intelligent or anything...but there is such a thing which says"lefties are more accident prone"

  11. #11
    Senior Contributor Srirangan's Avatar
    Join Date
    06 Aug 04
    Location
    New Delhi
    Posts
    760
    Born lefty, converted to Right hand by stoopid school teachers and parents. They forced me to write Right. Now I do most things mix or Right.
    I rant, therefore I am.

  12. #12
    Senior Contributor bonehead's Avatar
    Join Date
    12 Jan 05
    Posts
    4,866
    I can hoist a beer with either hand.

  13. #13
    THL
    THL is offline
    Senior Contributor THL's Avatar
    Join Date
    23 Jun 05
    Location
    35 minutes outside Chicago (please don't refer to it as "Chi-Town"...that's annoying)
    Posts
    5,910
    I have also heard where left handers are more intelligent and I also have known that to be true in most cases of left handed people I have known.

    But I am not one of them. I remain right handed.

    My small room mate used her left hand for everything when she started to do small motor skill things. I think because her father and I are both right handed, though, she mimicked us and switched. She is also right handed.
    "To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are."-Sholem Asch

    "I always turn to the sports page first, which records people's accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man's failures."-Earl Warren

    "I didn't intend for this to take on a political tone. I'm just here for the drugs."-Nancy Reagan, when asked a political question at a "Just Say No" rally

    "He no play-a da game, he no make-a da rules."-Earl Butz, on the Pope's attitude toward birth control

  14. #14
    Defense Professional Dreadnought's Avatar
    Join Date
    12 May 05
    Location
    Philadelphia, PA.
    Posts
    13,832
    Left handed except for writing. That I used to do with left as well before the penguins changed that via ruler/yardstick to right. Writing with your left hand in those days was deemed unaccaptable.
    Last edited by Dreadnought; 14 Dec 06, at 15:24.
    Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

  15. #15
    Senior Contributor bonehead's Avatar
    Join Date
    12 Jan 05
    Posts
    4,866
    "Left handed people are evil I tell ya." SMACK.

Page 1 of 5 12345 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Why We Are in Iraq
    By Leader in forum Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn
    Replies: 139
    Last Post: 07 Nov 10,, 15:46
  2. Future of afghanistan
    By raja khan in forum Operation Enduring Freedom and Af-Pak
    Replies: 114
    Last Post: 23 Mar 09,, 11:09
  3. Terrorists and the Left: United in Hate
    By Leader in forum International Politics
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 21 Aug 05,, 21:40
  4. Why do English drive on the left, most others on the right?
    By Ironduke in forum World Affairs Board Pub
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 06 May 04,, 03:33

Share this thread with friends:

Share this thread with friends:

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •