South Paws

Are you left-handed? Do you know someone who is? How about someone who can use both hands in the same manner: for writing or throwing?

You will be surprised to learn that one job in the United States has a very high incidence of left-handed people. Can you guess? I will tell you later.

In western history, there has been a strong bias against left-handers. Look at the word 'left', and where it is derived from in various languages, to see this. In French 'left' is gauche which can also mean 'ugly', 'clumsy' or 'uncouth'. In Italian 'left' is sinistra which is where our word 'sinister', meaning evil, comes from. This is similar in many other Latin-based languages. The English word 'left' comes from the Anglo-Saxon word lyft, meaning 'weak'.

A 'left-handed compliment' actually is an insult. However, someone's 'right-hand man' means their most important, loyal and useful follower. Pictures of Satan, the devil, depict him as a left-hander.

Because of this, left-handers were treated differently, as outcasts or evil people. In the past, probably due to Satan being a left-hander, they were said to have been 'doing the devil's work'. Many left-handed people were forced to write and eat with their right hand. Changing a person's handedness forces them to use a different brain hemisphere, and often causes stuttering or other learning difficulties.

A left handed person is commonly referred to as a lefty or south paw. Why south paw?
The origin of this term is in the United States and it is connected to baseball. A long time ago, before flood lights and night games, all baseball games were played in daylight. Baseball fields were designed and built to accommodate the sunlight. In order to keep the bright setting sun out of the eyes of the spectators and the batter, home plate was oriented west. As the afternoon turned to evening, the sun would set, in the west, behind home base. The pitcher faced west. East was behind him. His right hand was on the north side of the field and his left hand was…south. Left handed pitchers became known as south paws. A paw, in case you don’t know, is what we call the hand (foot) of a dog or cat.

We have a special word for someone who can use both hands. They are ambidextrous. This is a rare word. Ambi means both and dextri means use. They are rare people, indeed.

Here is a collection of 1000 famous left-handed people from history. This UK website sells products for left-handed people.

So, how about that job in the United States with a very high incidence of lefties? In fact, it is President of the United States! Five of the last seven presidents have been south paws. Here they are: Gerald Ford, Ronald Regan, George Bush, Sr., Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. Amazing. Why do you think this is the case? You might find some answers here in this CBC article from 2008.

Left handers have their own day. It is August 13, 2009