h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Right Handedness - A652204
Author: Niwt - U162817

It's not that great, but there's an entry on left handedness, so why not on right handedness?

Niwt

You mentioned it in your left-handed entry but not this one "Some people write with the hand they don't use for most other things"

I myself am an awkward righty. I write right handed but I play hockey and fence left handed. Also an interesting thing to look at may be what foot people use, although many may not know and I am not sure where you could find this information, but playing soccer you know you have a natural foot, right or left, and one of my left handed friends was naturally right footed and conversely one of our right handed players was left footed.

your friendly neighborhood

I can see room for improvement in this.

- There should be something at the start which says what right-handedness is.

- You talk about the socially acceptable way of eating with a knife and fork, but millions of Americans use a different way.

- You say that because we write from left to right, we don't smudge using our right hand. But millions of Arabs write with their right hands from right to left and presumably succeed in not smudging.

- You might like to mention that 'dextrous' comes from the Latin word 'dexter' meaning right; that 'right' means both the opposite of left and the opposite of wrong in English, as well as something you are entitled to. In French, 'droit' means the opposite of left and something you are entitled to, as well as being the root of the word 'adroit' meaning skillful. So the language has lots of phrases where 'right' and 'good' are equated.

I think the article would go off course if its expanded to include what foot people use. Cause then you'll have to talk about which eye is a person's dominant eye as well.

I don't believe that every guide entry has to be a long-winded, comprehensive thing. Some things are better left short and to the point.

short but accurate

Sorry, I did not mean to be confusing. I meant the foot thing not for this article but as an idea for another one to write to go with these others.

Sorry, I did not mean to be confusing. I meant the foot thing not for this article but as an idea for another one to write to go with these others.

Might be worthwhile mentioning that whilst the Latin for the left - 'sinister' has 'evil' connotations, the Latin for right, 'dexter' has more positive connotations, eg dextrous.

Thanks for the comments everybody.

I've added a sentence at the beginning trying to explain what right handedness is. I've also added a new paragraph about the "roots" (I think that's the right word) and connotations of "right". It seems to me this is badly written, but I can't think of much to change it.

Gnomon, you mentioned that millions of right-handed people write Arabic from right to left without smudging. That always confused me. Left-handers often seem to be complaining about how they can't write without smudging as English goes from left to right - so I've always wondered why Arabic speakers never complain.

Also, if heaps of people use their knife in their left hand and fork in their right, what do you suggest I change the "socially acceptable" to? Both ways are acceptable nowadays, I guess, should I say archaic or something?

Zarquon's Singing Fish, in the left handedness entry (A625501) I mention the Latin/French for left and the connotations attached. I just re-read that entry and I don't think I mentioned that "right" had positive connotations, so I guess I'll add it to this one.

Does the entry look any better now?

Niwt

Well no, because it's not archaic to use your knife in your left hand. It's the normal way of doing it, unless you're American, in which case both ways are acceptable.

How about "The traditional European way of holding a knife and fork, with the fork in the left and the knife in the right, is more comfortable for right-handers".

I think Kerr's wording is good. Americans don't hold their knife in there left hand as far as I know, they use knife in right, then swap to fork in right once the food is cooked. At least that's what I've been told. Kerr's wording avoids that issue entirely.

That's a good way of putting it. I'll change it when I'm Niwt again.

well gosh.

So Americans cut their food up, then swap their fork over to eat it? Sounds untidy to me, but then, I've really watched an American eat...

Was there a missing in that last post?

Err, a missing what?

Isn't it amazing the rubbish that we produce when we don't preview? My earlier posting should of course have read 'once the food is cut up' but somehow I wrote 'cooked' instead. This is what comes of connecting the 'babbling' part of the brain directly to the fingers without engaging the 'critical thought' engine.

So you meant to say in post 14 "isn't that what I said?", or words to that effect? Oh God, it's too early in the morning for this

Sorry, Kerr! I've had my morning coffee so my brain is in hyperdrive at the moment. I meant to ask did you mean to say "I've never watched an American eat" rather than "I've watched an American eat".

Bugger, yes, I did mean to say I've never watched an American eat. Oh dear, we're not doing very well, are we?

KerrAvon and Gnomon are incoherent while Niwt is Elephants. What a party!