Home | About Dr. Coren | Library/ Book Excerpts
Publications | Contact Dr. Coren

The Left-hander Syndrome

Excerpted from "The Left-hander Syndrome":

For some proof of these negative attitudes toward left-handers we need to go no further than our own language. The very word left in English, comes from the Anglo-Saxon word lyft which means "weak" or "broken". No less an authority than the venerable Oxford English Dictionary goes on to define left-handed as including the meanings "crippled", "defective", "awkward", "clumsy", "inapt", "characterized by underhanded dealings", "ambiguous", "doubtful", "questionable", "ill-omened", "inauspicious" and "illegitimate".

Some common phrases in the English language demonstrate our negative view of left-handedness. For instance, a left-handed compliment is actually an insult. A son from the left side of the bed is illegitimate. A left-handed marriage is no marriage at all, but refers to an unconsecrated or adulterous sexual liaison, such as in the phrase a "left-handed honeymoon with someone else's husband". Thus a left-handed wife, is actually a mistress. A left-handed diagnosis is wrong and left- handed wisdom is a collection of errors. To be about left-handed business is to be engaged in something unlawful or unsavoury. Sailors speak of ships that are left-handed, meaning that they are unlucky or "wrong" in some way. In Scotland there is even a saying used to describe a particularly unlucky person, which goes "He must have been baptized by a left-handed priest".


Any list of famous left-handers should include:

B O O K   E X C E R P T S

If you are an expert in animal issues and would like to give a presentation, please Contact Us for more information.

© 2003 Stanley Coren    All Rights Reserved.
DrCoren@stanleycoren.com

About the News Van | About LCA | Contact Us
Sponsorship Opportunities