August 12, 2010
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Happy Lefty day!
“If the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body then only left handed people are in their right minds.”
View quotes by Left Handed Society Of The UsaAparently, there is a club: http://www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk/club_join.html
Some people celebrating August 13, for Lefty day! (http://www.indiana.edu/~primate/left.html has a lot more)
Left-Handed U.S. Presidents
James A. Garfield (1831-1881) 20th
Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) 31st
Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) 33rd
Gerald Ford (1913- ) 38th
Ronald Reagan (1911 – ) 40th
George H.W. Bush (1924- ) 41st
Bill Clinton (1946- ) 42nd
Barack Obama (1961- ) 44thOthers:
Joan of Arc (?), French heroine
Alexander the Great
Julius Caesar, Roman general
Napoléon Bonaparte (?), French emperor
Prince Charles of England
Prince William of England
Fidel Castro, Cuban leader
Helen Keller, advocate for the blind (Yea Helen!)
Matt Groening, cartoonist (we have so much to thank him for)
John Dillinger, criminal/bank robber
Jack-the-Ripper, serial killer, Bach, composer
Judy Garland
Michelangelo
Raphael
Leonardo da Vinci (RH paralyzed?)
Charlie Chaplin, Fran Drescher, comedian (ze Nanny)
Whoopie Goldberg
Cary Grant
Jim Henson, puppetteer
Kermit the Frog (YEA!!!!)
Angelina Jolie
Marilyn Monroe
Robert Redford
Julia Roberts
Dick Van Dyke
Oprah Winfrey
Pelé -Edson Arantes do Nascimento (soccer)
Larry Bird (basketball)
Babe Ruth (baseball)You can watch someone named Rachel on youtube talk about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC4CdqKWkWk
Wikipeida says: Left-handedness is the preference for the left hand over the right for everyday activities such as writing. Seven to ten percent of the adult population is left-handed
There are many colloquial terms used to refer to a left-handed person, e.g. “southpaw” or “goofy” (USA). Left hand shakes are a sign of disrespect – however the left hand shake is the standard in the international Scouting movement. In Hebrew, as well as in other ancient Semitic and Mesopotamian languages, the term “left” was a symbol of power or custody.[7] The left hand symbolized the power to shame society, and was used as a metaphor for misfortune, natural evil, or punishment from the gods. This metaphor survived ancient culture and was integrated into mainstream Christianity by early Catholic theologians as Ambrose of Milan[8] to modern Protestant theologians such as Karl Barth[9] to attribute natural evil to God in explaining God’s omnipotence over the universe. (yikes)
Meanings gradually developed from use of these terms in the ancient languages. In many European languages, “right” is not only a synonym for correctness, but also stands for authority and justice: German recht, French droit, Spanish derecho, Portuguese direito; in most Slavic languages the root prav is used in words carrying meanings of correctness or justice. (BOOOO)
Meanwhile, the English word sinister comes from the Latin word sinestra, which originally meant “left” but took on meanings of “evil” or “unlucky” by the Classical Latin era. Alternatively, sinister comes from the Latin word sinus meaning “pocket”: a traditional Roman toga had only one pocket, located on the left side. (Bet you didn’t know that!)
In Portuguese, the most common word for left-handed person, canhoto, was once used to identify the devil, and canhestro, a related word, means “clumsy” (sinistro means only “sinister”). (I did not know this–really?)
In Swedish, vänster means left. The term vänsterprassel means infidelity, adultery; cheating. From this term the verb vänstra (lit. “lefting”) is derived. (yikes)
In Ireland left handedness is called a “ciotógach” (kyut-OH-goch) which is the Irish language term for left-handed. It is frequently used amongst Irish people, e.g. “she gave him a slap of the ciotógach after he insulted her at the bar” the word ciotógach is not derogatory and is held with affection amongst left-handed people. (This makes me laugh. ha!)
Among Incas left-handers were called (and now are called among the indigenous peoples of the Andes) lloq’e (Quechua: lluq’i) which has positive value. Peoples of the Andes consider that left-handers possess special spiritual abilities, including magic and healing. Third Sapa Inca – Lloque Yupanqui — was the left-hander, his name in transfer with Quechua means «the glorified lefthander».
Funny stuff–check out this website: http://www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk/jokes.html
Little Bobby was spending the weekend with his grandmother after a particularly trying week in kindergarten. His grandmother decided to take him to the park on Saturday morning. It had been snowing all night and everything was beautiful. His grandmother remarked…
“doesn’t it look like an artist painted this scenery? Did you know God painted this just for you?”Bobby said, “Yes, God did it and he did it left handed.”
This confused his grandmother a bit, and she asked him,
“What makes you say God did this with his left hand?”.“Well,” said Bobby, “we learned at Sunday School last week that Jesus sits on God’s right hand!”
According to http://www.funfacts.com.au/left-handed-people-die-earlier/, Right handed people tend to live nine years longer than left handed people. (Oh well.)
So since we are dying early, I definately think we need a cake. Who’s baking?
