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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>Janette Knowles</span> Fri, 08/13/2021 - 09:15
I remember in elementary school my teachers accepted my left handedness and never tried to change that. I bat right handed and play golf right handed but everything else is done left handed. I'm also the only left hand in my family.
<span>Janette Knowles</span> Fri, 08/13/2021 - 09:15
I remember in elementary school my teachers accepted my left handedness and never tried to change that. I bat right handed and play golf right handed but everything else is done left handed. I'm also the only left hand in my family.
<span>Renee</span> Fri, 08/13/2021 - 09:06
I do most everything with my left hand---except use a computer mouse, for one. It's great to be able to write with my left hand while maneuvering the mouse with my right---always makes co-workers jealous. I also turn whatever I'm writing on to a 90 degree angle to avoid smearing it.
<span>Carol M.</span> Fri, 08/13/2021 - 08:48
I use both hands, my dominant hand is my left. I play guitar with my right, which has made learning to fingerpick a bit of a challenge since the dexterity of my right isn't as good as my left. I am a multi-media artist, musician, songwriter, crafter. I love learning new things, and at age 79, I believe it IS the secret of aging gracefully! Honoring these gifts, teaching some to others, I embrace each day thankful for the extra helping of Artistic Talant given to me.
<span>Ron</span> Fri, 08/13/2021 - 08:38
When you are left handed you always get to sit at the end of the dining table. This is because if a left handed person is sitting closely next to a right handed person while dining you will be constantly bumping elbows.
<span>Ginnie</span> Fri, 08/13/2021 - 08:34
I write left handed, It is the only thing I do with my left hand. Right hand for eating, using tools, cleaning, throwing a ball.....although.I am pretty good a throwing left handed compliments.
<span>Luann Maxwell</span> Wed, 07/14/2021 - 10:25
I eat, brush my teeth, and wash with my left hand. I throw balls with both hands. If holding a bat or tennis racket, right hand. Writing I can do with both hands, however, when I write with my right hand, you would need to hold the paper up to a mirror to read! I'm not sure why, but people are always surprised when they find out I am left-handed. Maybe I'm supposed to have horns... :-)
<span>Dan Scarberry</span> Sun, 05/30/2021 - 14:35
I write with my left hand but i throw with my right hand. I can do alot of things with both hands only because as a young child i liked to practice evenly with each hand while doing everyday task. Now as an adult i am almost fully amidextrious , but my left has always been more percise and my right is stronger.
<span>Dave Everett</span> Thu, 03/18/2021 - 17:27
My mother was one of the first to be left handed, my sister is left handed/right footed, and I am mainly right handed/left footed. However I can write with my left hand, use tools, use left handed scissors should I need to. Sports are horrendous, golf, cricket, and archery all feel odd no matter which hand I use. My son is left handed, and at 2 years old my grand daughter still uses both hands, holding a spoon in her left hand, time will tell for her. Oh and for music lovers, the foot pedals on my electronic drum set are the other way round!
<span>Pat Wagner</span> Thu, 03/04/2021 - 09:41
I am the only lefty in my immediate family. I do have some aunts and uncles as well as several cousins who are also left-handed. When I was about to start school as a kindergartener a woman who knew my family, and knew I was left-handed told my mom she would have to work really hard with me to get me to write with my right hand. My mom told that lady that she would not try to make my write with my right hand, because it would be confusing and unbalance how I did things. The only things I can do with my right hand is use scissors, and a bat when I played softball because that was the only thing available to use. I love being a lefty.