Lefthanders Day!
13th August 2012
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Left Handed People...
13th August sees a nationally recognised day promoting the consideration of left handed people - it encourages left handed activities and raises general 'lefty' awareness. 10% of the population are born with Left-handedness also known as Sinistrality a word derived from the Latin word sinistral meaning "left".
This minority also has a whole list of words that can be heard as slang (most of them very uncomplimentary) these include some of the following - lefty or leftie, cack-handed, squiffy, spuddy-handed or buck-fisted. A sports person may also be known as a southpaw or a hooker!
In many European languages the word for the direction "right" also means correct or proper and a much nicer way of moderating the slang for lefties is by biggin' up right-handedness. Maybe consider the following ...
- Dextrous, from the word dexterity, skillful in performing tasks, especially with the hands, from the Latin "dexter" meaning on the right.
- Ambidextrous - jokingly described as to have 2 right hands.
- Adroit - quick witted - from the French "droit" meaning right or take the motto of the British Monarch Dieu et mon droit this is French for "God and my right"!
The odd fit ...
You will also come across some sayings where 'left' really doesn't fit:
Has her heart in the left place
He's not in his left mind
Waiting for Mr Left
Or perhaps where it does:
Right in the lurch
He was right at the alter
A man with two right feet
Inconveniences and Modifications ...
Left-handed people spend the first part of their life fighting through our right-handedly created society! At school you begin with learning our written language - which is designed to be scribbled from left to right and most likely a nightmare for a lefties hand as it will smear everything they write along the way!
As we leave School and head on to learn skills and how to use certain implements, sinistral people will find themselves facing a whole heap of inconveniences, right-handed tools will be difficult and probably uncomfortable to use - some will have been modified however there are hurdles to look out for items such as a pair of scissors, kitchen knife, can opener, pencil sharpener, and a fishing reel could all cause a problem.
Lefties in Sport...
For experts in sport this can also have its advantages, if they are a left-handed player in an individual's sport such as tennis, badminton, boxing or fencing and your opponent is right-handed then they are likely to be less practised in their backhand or left sided movements - this is why you will see a high number of lefties in one-on-one sports such as John McEnroe, Rafael Nadal and Greg Rusedski.
Famous Lefthanders ...
Some Left handers in history;
Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Leonardo Da Vinci
Some other famous left-handers include;
Drew Barrymore, Brad Pitt, Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman, Sylvester Stallone, and in music... Jimi Hendrix, Sting and David Bowie all play the left-handed guitar!
There are heaps of products out there that have been adapted to suit the minority, such as spiral notepads, watches, tools and don't forget if you are a Coolaz stubby holder user then you can even request a left-handed cooler where the adjustable strips are placed slightly differently and we will flip the artwork for you, that way they can be appreciated by all and be easily fastened by lefties...!
Enjoy!
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- Gemma
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