Wednesday 13 August 2014

Lefty’s Rule

Yes, today is officially OUR day….International Left Handers’ Day….

lh-zone-200What is it to be left-handed???

Left Handed Definition

All year round, we fit in with home and office layouts designed for right-handers’ comfort, but NOT TODAY!

slide-left-handed-and-proud

It seems left and right handedness may be argued over, like the chicken and the egg……Stone Age implements discovered seem equally divided between left and right and studies of cave drawings have indicated a preference for the left hand. When tools became more sophisticated, a clear hand preference emerged. The right hand preference may have originated in sun worship.

In the Northern hemisphere you have to face south to follow the sun and move from left to right until the suns sets in the west. This gave moving to the right and the right hand side a great significance. Another theory says that as the heart is on the left hand side, a shield would have to be in the left hand to defend it and any weapon therefore had to be held in the right, which became the dominant hand. Recent theories have included one that right-handedness is the normality and left-handedness is a deficiency which results from a traumatic birth! Left-handers have done quite badly over the years and many old superstitions still survive today.

I can remember, as a child entering school, my mother being asked by the teachers if she would like my left hand tied behind my back so that I would “learn” how to be right handed…can you believe it???    Thank God my mum had the nouse to say a very firm NO!

However, even languages refer to ‘lefties’ in a not so good light……

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

Swedish                  Vänsterhänt

Australia             Mollie Dooker        Something to do with having fists like a girl

Portuguese                Canhoto

Latin      SinisterDexter   On the left-hand sideOn the right hand side (dextrous)

So you see….being left handed can be hard!    But check out who our famous (and very creative)  counterparts are….

Leonardo Da Vinci,  Ruben,Bach,  both Ginger Rodgers AND Fred Astaire, Pierce Brosnan, Morgan Freema, Hugh Jackman, Judy Garland, Demi Moore, Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, Celine Dion, Sir Paul McCartney, Mozart and Schumann….and that’s only a few!  What a creative bunch we lefties are!

Only Left-Handers are in their right minds

So why not have a go at some left handed craft for the day and see what challenges us in our craft……

  • Cutting – using right-handed scissors in left hand is an excellent example of totally right-biased design that doesn’t work well.
  • Ironing with board & iron reversed – adults only !
  • Drawing a measured line with a ruler
  • I wouldn’t recommend using the rotary cutter though….a little bit dangerous, don’t you think?
  • Having the computer mouse on the left of the keyboard and try drawing a shape on screen, or clicking and dragging – we usually have to do this with our right hand as the mouse is shared, and always set up for right-handed users
  • Use the computer keypad to enter lots of numbers – using wrong hand
  • Draw or write in ring binder / spiral bound notepad with left hand – binding hurts wrist
  • Using fountain/ink pen or just felts and colour in with left hand – smudged work and ink on side of hand as it follows the work

Not easy huh?  I’d love to know of any crafty left-handed quilters out there and how you cope with your craft in a right handed world.

Hope you have a very happy Left Hander’s Day!

Keep Left and Carry On Poster Preview

    (Take part in the quizzes and games on www.lefthandersday.com and find out what makes us lefties so special!  All images and information was used from there so credit is duly given)

    Sugary hugs xox :o)

    my signature

14 comments:

Narelle said...

yay yay yay a day for us at last. Have a wonderful Lefty day Miss Wendy.
Big Lefty Hugs
Rell xxxOxxx

Cheryll said...

Hubby's a leftie or "south paw" and he's PRoUD to be one too!
ME? I'm a mortal rightie...so today is NOT my day... lol :)

Cheryll said...

PS...
I can write with either hand AND I can write backwards too...so perhaps my brain is all mixed up...lol

Jo said...

My daughter is left handed but the funny things is she only writes with her left hand. Everything else she does with the right.

Anonymous said...

yipee its my day too,i am a leftie and had to laugh at Chez's comment she sounds like she could have a day just for herself,love ya Dory,lol.xx

retdairyqueen said...

Happy Lefties day to you
My GD is a lefty too xx

Farm Quilter said...

Love your post! I actually did a research paper on being left-handed about 10 years ago. Frequently lefties have had some kind of birth trauma. Their life span is about 3 years shorter than a righty...attributed to having to use tools made for a righty. You lovely lefties learn differently too - whole to part - whereas righties learn part to whole. Very interesting from an educational point of view. Enjoy your day!!!

Lyn said...

It is not always easy is it ..my Mum is lefthanded but she always played golf right handed..talking of school I remember way back when I started teaching a fellow teacher had to do things with her right hand (not her usual left) so as to give the right example to the young students..so good things have changed

Maria said...

Happy lefty Day... Hubby WAS a lefty but when he went to school he was taught (forced) to use his right hand. He still kicks a ball with his left foot though.

Susan said...

What a collection of interesting (esp to you lefties) facts.

Anthea said...

What a great post Wendy! I have a great book called A Left-Handed History of the World... My Mum is a lefty, but none of her 5 kids are...
Did you also know that 5 or the last 8 US presidents are lefty's??

Anonymous said...

Oh, you're a lefty! Both of my sisters were, and I will do a few things left-handed, but mostly not. Happy Lefty Day!

Unknown said...

Happy (Belated) Lefty Day! My son writes lefty and when he started kinder they asked me what hand I wanted him to write with. I looked at them blankly and said "With the hand he naturally writes with, of course!" It didn't even occur to me to "pick" the hand he would write with.

Pinnylea Creations said...

My DH's a "cuddy wifter" too - he always sets the table the "wrong way" LOL. Hope you had a good day xx