For daily wit & wisdom, get the Almanac newsletter.

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

More Like This

Comments

<span>Diana</span> Wed, 08/14/2019 - 01:12
I am both!! It turned out to be a good thing after I fell and broke my right arm and 2 bones in my hand. No problem, just use the other one! :)
<span>Rodney</span> Tue, 08/13/2019 - 22:37
I only eat and write left handed but do everything else right. Guess cause my parents were both right handed. I was the only child and even my cousins and family were all right so I learned their way on everything else. I have 3 children. My oldest (daughter) is a full Lefty. She does everything left handed. She has 2 children and her oldest (my grandson) is a lefty.
<span>Betty Jordan</span> Tue, 08/13/2019 - 20:31
My teacher in 4th grade - had me go around to some of the other classes and write on the blackboard. She wanted the other left handers to see what I was doing. I don't turn my hand as most left handers do.
<span>Michael Crockett</span> Tue, 08/13/2019 - 15:07
Left handed people tend to have left handed friends at a higher rate than right handed friends. At least that is my general observation. I think lefties just like each other’s company more so than right. Handed folks.
<span>Bev The Southpaw</span> Sun, 08/18/2019 - 10:06
That hasn't been my experience as I've pivot met a handful of left handed people in my life and I'm 50. It matters not to me which hangs you write with or use. I am not more comfortable based upon that.
<span>Lindsey</span> Thu, 08/15/2019 - 07:24
There was this one glorious meal I ate with four other lefties! No one had to worry about elbow space at the table!
<span>Kathie Mcgraw</span> Tue, 08/13/2019 - 20:02
Hard to believe but people always compliment my handwriting. Thanks to the Catholic school nuns who kept trying to get me to use my right hand. I practiced handwriting hours upon hours to show them it was more comfortable with my left hand. I hate spiral bound notebooks and I prefer to read a magazine from back to front. I think lefties are creative and unique.
<span>Kat</span> Tue, 08/13/2019 - 14:23
I am 98% lefty...the only things I do right-handed are use scissors because my grade school did not have lefty scissors for us and had to learn the "right way". I also use the mouse for the computer with my right hand so I can write down notes at the same time. I was in a baton twirling group when I was young and was made to twirl right-handed. They finally made me into a two-handed flag twirler instead because everyone was tired of getting bonked by my flying baton My dad was a lefty who was forced to learn to write, cut paper, and eat right-handed in school. His writing was never very legible but he became a very talented right-handed artist. I never even noticed he was a lefty until years later when I noticed he drank his coffee or drinks left-handed and I asked why. I always wondered why I was the only lefty in my family and found out I wasn't.
<span>Edmond Gioielli</span> Tue, 08/13/2019 - 13:25
Yes, this is a true fact of schools frowning upon lefty people back in the day. It happened to my father who was a lefty. Back in the mid 1900’s they slapped his hand with a ruler to forcibly adapt to writing with the right hand. That is all he did with his right. Yes genetics are a serious factor as I and my sister as well as my daughter are lefty. I married into a family of lefty’s. All of my brothers in law are lefty and my wife and her mom are not. Our youngest son is ambidextrous and carries both our traits in his dexterity. And, being of 100% Italian, to take a left turn In Italy it is “ sinestra” in Italian!
<span>Karen</span> Tue, 08/13/2019 - 12:10
I'm ambidextrous but, being raised in the 60's-70's, I was forced to be right handed even though my dad is a lefty. By the time I turned 20 I was back to "righting the wrong" and using my left hand again for writing. I catch with both hands, but can only throw with my right. I shave my legs and brush my teeth with both hands, but am only comfortable with a left-handed mouse.