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Are left handed people Sinister?

Latin is often considered the root of all modern European languages.

In Latin the word ‘sinistra’ means ‘left’ and ‘dextra’ means ‘right’. About 9 out of every 10 people are right handed. This is considered the norm. Only 1 in 10 are left handed and for thousands of years they were often considered abnormal and even inauspicious, portentous, clumsy or unlucky. So whilst left handed or sinistra people could be called ‘sinister’ right handed people or ‘dextra’ people were considered dextrous and adroit.

Ever heard of a clumsy design or discordant article being called ‘gauche’? Not surprisingly ‘gauche’ is the French word for ‘left’. We know the word ‘adroit’ means capable and dextrous and yes, in French ‘a droit’ means ‘to the right'.

In Victorian times (and later) being left handed was often deemed very unfashionable and so teachers and parents used to force their children to use their right hand for writing. Naturally they found the task unnatural and more difficult and were often more clumsy, slower and it caused some to pick up a stutter. Unfortunately society saw that as proof that left handed people were somehow less capable.