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Why are left-handers called “southpaws”? (2015)

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Re: Why are left-handers called “southpaws”? (2015)

#41

Post by dudul »

kls wrote: post #35
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #30

Well, southpaw doesn't have a pejorative connotation, so I guess it beats being called "sinister".

sinistra, in Latin proper, simply meant left. It was later that someone decided that left = evil and sinister, well became sinister, but the historical root simply means left and is the original archaic definition of sinister. Personally I am more concerned by our higher than average death rate than I am worried about being touched by the devil.

A quick Google research will return a few articles explaining how the studies that started this myth about higher death rate in the 80s and 90s were flawed.

Re: Why are left-handers called “southpaws”? (2015)

#42

Post by pacaro »

js2 wrote: post #27
rdiddly wrote: post #18

I'm glad this expression won out, instead of the briefly popular but terribly clumsy "antipodean-gripper." /bs

And for footedness, a lefty is "goofy foot" in board sports.

Except that "regular" is left foot leading and "goofy" is right foot leading.

In my experience learning to ride "switch" is only a matter of practice, and not much at that.

Anyone who juggles, or plays keepy-up (aka foot juggling) knows the importance of practicing evenly on both sides

Re: Why are left-handers called “southpaws”? (2015)

#43

Post by danans »

On the subject of direction word trivia, the Sanskrit word for right, a cognate of Latin "dexter", is "dakshina." In this case, however, it eventually came to mean "south".

Why? It makes sense when you realize that the the word for ahead/in-front "purva" came to mean east, the word for back/behind "paschima" came to mean west, and the common word for north "uttara" can mean left. So the words imply an eastward-facing world orientation, which itself probably has its origin in worship of the rising sun.

Re: Why are left-handers called “southpaws”? (2015)

#44

Post by akaru »

treyfitty wrote: post #9
derekp7 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I had to guess -- in a normal defensive stance, where both hands are held out in front, the right hand is typically higher and slightly in front of the left hand. Top being north, bottom is south.

For a lefty, you're correct. But for a righty, then the right hand would be south. So, that can't possibly be the reason why boxers call lefties 'Southpaws'

The parent comment makes perfect sense to me: a left-handed person would have their left hand south. So their main hand is the south paw.

Re: Why are left-handers called “southpaws”? (2015)

#45

Post by hghhhggv »

kls wrote: post #37
nickpeterson wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because most people are right handed, there is a notion of it being 'natural' to use their right hand. This is probably where we get the overlap with words that mean 'correct'. Doing something left-handed, for most people, is doing it backwards. People are rarely left-handed, so there is an 'us verses them' notion behind the term. Right handed people are the default and left-handed people are different. Note phrases…

Theory goes, left-handers have an advantage in battle (everyone has fought and trained against a right hander). Those that won, and had good political skills got to rule (and remain ruling) and reproduce, so it was self selecting for leadership. What is odd about that theory is our almost static percentage of the population thru the ages.

> What is odd about that theory is our almost static percentage of the population thru the ages.

> odd

That simply means the theory is wrong, not "odd".

Re: Why are left-handers called “southpaws”? (2015)

#46

Post by balsam »

danans wrote: post #43

On the subject of direction word trivia, the Sanskrit word for right, a cognate of Latin "dexter", is "dakshina." In this case, however, it eventually came to mean "south". Why? It makes sense when you realize that the the word for ahead/in-front "purva" came to mean east, the word for back/behind "paschima" came to mean west, and the common word for north "uttara" can mean left. So the words imply an eastward-facing…

Also:

     purva -> "first"

     uttara -> "second"
A anti-clockwise orientation..

Re: Why are left-handers called “southpaws”? (2015)

#47

Post by skepticaldrunk »

akaru wrote: post #44
treyfitty wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a lefty, you're correct. But for a righty, then the right hand would be south. So, that can't possibly be the reason why boxers call lefties 'Southpaws'

The parent comment makes perfect sense to me: a left-handed person would have their left hand south. So their main hand is the south paw.

Your parent comment points out that for a right-handed person, their right hand would be south. The same is true for either handedness, thus does little to differentiate the two.

Re: Why are left-handers called “southpaws”? (2015)

#48

Post by kls »

dudul wrote: post #41
kls wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

sinistra, in Latin proper, simply meant left. It was later that someone decided that left = evil and sinister, well became sinister, but the historical root simply means left and is the original archaic definition of sinister. Personally I am more concerned by our higher than average death rate than I am worried about being touched by the devil.

A quick Google research will return a few articles explaining how the studies that started this myth about higher death rate in the 80s and 90s were flawed.

Good to know, it's been some time since I read about left handed deaths and only recall the articles being all the buzz back then.

Re: Why are left-handers called “southpaws”? (2015)

#49

Post by dudul »

kls wrote: post #48
dudul wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A quick Google research will return a few articles explaining how the studies that started this myth about higher death rate in the 80s and 90s were flawed.

Good to know, it's been some time since I read about left handed deaths and only recall the articles being all the buzz back then.

I had never heard of this higher death rate thing, and being a lefty myself I was curious after your comment :)

Re: Why are left-handers called “southpaws”? (2015)

#50

Post by treyfitty »

akaru wrote: post #44
treyfitty wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a lefty, you're correct. But for a righty, then the right hand would be south. So, that can't possibly be the reason why boxers call lefties 'Southpaws'

The parent comment makes perfect sense to me: a left-handed person would have their left hand south. So their main hand is the south paw.

Left handed fighters put their right hand south. Their left hand (jab hand) closely guards their cheek/chin. So it can't possibly be south.
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