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Left-Handers Day: Surprising Facts About Being Left-Handed

Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

International Left-Handers Day is August 13, a day celebrating the 10 to 12 percent of people worldwide who favor their left hand. Discover surprising left-handed facts, history, and folklore—from old superstitions to the science behind handedness.

Years ago, some teachers insisted that all students, including left-handers, learn to write with their right hand. Teachers thought that students would have an easier time if they were not “different” from right-handed writers. Some thought that using the left hand was just a bad habit. Some even slapped or punished left-handed kids who had trouble!

left-hander facts

Now we know that everyone should use whichever hand is most comfortable. Today, 10 to 12 percent of the world’s population is left-handed. It’s not surprising that lefties sometimes feel “left out.” Plenty of superstitions and odd terms regarding left-handedness exist.

Left-Hander Superstitions and Terms

  • Sinistrophobia is the fear of left-handedness or things on the left side.
  • Many people believe that the devil is left-handed.
  • The Latin word for left, sinister, also means unlucky, evil, and suspicious.
  • The French word for left, gauche, also means clumsy.
  • A left-handed compliment is an insult.
  • It is believed that all polar bears are left-handed.
  • A left-handed baseball pitcher is called a southpaw. (And no, there’s no such thing as a northpaw!)

Why Are Some People Left-handed and Others Right-handed?

Scientists aren’t sure what causes left-handedness. Genetics plays a role, but it’s not the whole story. For example, identical twins have the same DNA, but it is common for one twin to be right-handed and the other to be left-handed.

Many left-handers have a symmetrical brain, meaning that the left and right portions of their brain are shaped alike. Right-handers often have an asymmetrical brain: The left cerebral hemisphere is often larger than the right cerebral hemisphere.

pinky promise left hand facts

No matter the shape of your brain or the hand you favor, here’s what we have—um—left:

Left-handed Facts and Trivia

The Left Test

There’s no sure way to measure “handedness.” One of the most widely used tests is called the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (developed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in the 1970s). This test asks participants which hand they most often use for a series of activities, including writing, eating, drawing, throwing, cutting with scissors, brushing teeth, and unscrewing a lid.

Left-handed Burgers? Baloney!

A full-page ad in USA Today in 1998 claimed that Burger King had developed the “left-handed Whopper.” The burger had the same fixings, but they were turned 180 degrees so that they wouldn’t drip out on left-handed customers. It was a joke! The ad ran on April 1 (April Fools’ Day).

Lefties Day

August 13 is International Left-Handers Day! The tradition was started by the Left-Handers Club, a group in the United Kingdom. Club members around the world give interviews and play left-handed games.

left handed facts folklore

Left-hander Heaven?

Lefties might want to travel to Left Hand, West Virginia, where there is a church, a school, and a post office. The village was so named because it sits on the left-hand fork of the Big Sandy River, not because of the way its citizens write.

Left-handed Reward

A few left-handers attending Juniata College in Pennsylvania have benefited from a scholarship just for left-handers established in 1979 by Mary and Frederick Beckley, two left-handers who met when they attended tennis class together in 1919.

If you’re right-handed, try writing with your left. If you’re left-handed, try brushing your teeth with your right. You’re likely to find these activities surprisingly difficult.

So, tell us below if you are a lefty or righty and what you’ve observed about this phenomenon called handedness!

Amusements

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann is the Executive Digital Editor of Almanac.com, the digital home of The Old Farmer’s Almanac. She leads digital editorial strategy and publishing across a wide range of Almanac sub...

Read more from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

<span>Sheilah Perry-…</span> Sat, 08/13/2022 - 07:39
I'm left handed so is my son and my uncle.My daughter is right handed like her dad.Bummer
<span>Linda Rosa</span> Sat, 08/13/2022 - 07:31
I am a left handed person as is one of my brothers. Our father was a lefty too, although in years past his teachers would force him to use his right hand. I don't find it difficult to navigate a "righty" world because it is easy for me to switch to my right hand to accomplish certain tasks.
<span>Sandy</span> Sat, 08/13/2022 - 07:13
I eat, write, play guitar and bat left handed. But I use the scissors right handed. Who knows?
<span>Dennis Poore</span> Sat, 08/13/2022 - 07:06
I'm moving to the United Kingdom, two reasons. 1 The left-handers club mentioned. 2 And it would be so much easier to use my mounted iPhone on the the center console.
<span>Ed Culver</span> Sat, 08/13/2022 - 07:03
I write left handed and do everything else right handed, not sure why. I have not met anyone else that is that way but sure I am not the only one like that.
<span>Rudi T</span> Sat, 08/13/2022 - 07:54
You are not alone. I am the same.
<span>Melba M</span> Sat, 08/13/2022 - 07:53
I also write with my left hand and do everything else with my right hand.
<span>Bill</span> Sat, 08/13/2022 - 06:14
Quite a few of my accounting friends and myself are left handed, Accounting work is easier writing with your left hand and operating you adding machine or with you right.
<span>Rebecca Mcgregor</span> Fri, 08/12/2022 - 13:08
My father was one of those that was forced to used his right hand but meant to be left-handed. My brother(first born) was left-handed. My two younger siblings are right=handed. Me..wellI was the second born and couldn't make up my mind...They finally taught me to right right-handed but using my left feels equally right.
<span>Roddy Camper</span> Sun, 07/03/2022 - 16:26
Thank you Almanac for the article trying to support us Lefties! What got me started advocating for Lefties was back when I was 12 years old and my father would make fun of me for not being able to start the mower on the first pull! This really upset me because I had to always figure out why things didn't work. I was the kid that took things apart to either fix them or make them better. Well, I found out why on the mower, the pull cords are all designed for a right hander! From then on, I have been fighting for lefty rights. You can see my book, Lefty Leon's First Day at school at my website www.leftyrightsclub.org. You can also buy a copy if you really like it. However, this book was written to help parents and teachers with left handed kids so they will understand they have a unique challenge in this world that will only make them better. I don't want them to be one of the 2500 that get killed yearly by using right handed tools. My mother used to tell me stories about how she got her hand smacked in catholic school and how others use to tease her for being left handed. She did eventually shift (forced to) however she encourage me, not like my dad. That's okay, it made me who I am today. Just to give you an idea about where I am going with this, I have contacted our government to add left handed children to the "No child left behind group" because we are disadvantage because most of the teachers don't recognize lefties, the schools don't keep records of who is left handed, and some schools still have those right handed desks that hurt us for years (my back is still hurting to this day). With adults who are left handed, I am pushing government for a tax break due to the fact that we can not get products for us in a lot of cases and if we do, most of the time the product is more expensive. NOT RIGHT, or more precisely, not CORRECT! I am also going to work with manufacturers to get them to recognize us 13% (should be 25% as the newly discovered gene states). And, get them to label products correctly, left handed ONLY, right handed ONLY along with getting the pictures straight so we can make smart buying decisions and not buy something that is not made for us. And, get that stupid company who advertises scissors as ambidextrous to fix their labeling or get sued for lying!!! Yes, as you can tell, I am pretty passionate about our left handers cause. I just need a few of the famous left handers who can sponsor our cause to really kick off our "Coming Home" march for equality. Not that we are better, we are in a lot of cases, however right handers are better at other things. What we need is the balance of it all so our country can be great again! Lefties are the best divergent thinkers, so, if you want a different solution, a different path, go see a lefty, you might be pleasantly surprised. Roddy