Are you left-handed?

Date : 03 Jun 2025Categories : Entertainment News Unusual

Don’t look, I’ve done it for you: there’s no such thing as a positive expression if you’re left-handed!

Pejorative in French

Être gauche: ‘To be left-handed’ means to be clumsy;
Avoir deux mains gauche: ‘to have two left hands’: idem;
Se lever du pied gauche: ‘to get up on the left foot’ is to be in a bad mood;
Passer l’arme à gauche: to die;
Mariage de la main gauche: ‘to marry with the left hand’ means not a Christian wedding;
En mettre à gauche: ‘to put money aside’, connotation stingy;
Prendre le gauche: ‘turn left’, do something even though you know you don’t have the right to do it.

In Spanish, it’s not much better

No ser zurdo: ‘not to be left-handed’ means to be skilful;
Un cero a la izquierda: ‘a zero on the left’ means something uselessor a very clumsy person.

The Italians fight the same battle

Un colpo mancino, ‘a left-handed blow’, is a low blow;
A l’è un mancin, ‘it’s a left-hander’, was said of someone untrustworthy.

And what about German?

Zwei linke Hände haben: ‘to have two left hands’, the same as in French;
Links liegen lassern, ‘to leave to the left’, means to neglect, to despise.

In English, you’re left-handed, but it’s no better…

Our English-speaking friends, who drive on the other side of the road, are kings of pejorative expressions.

A left-handed wife is a concubine;
A left-handed marriage has the same meaning as in French;
A left-hander or left-footer is an Anglican Catholic;
A left-handed is a homosexual;
A left-handed dream is a nightmare;
A left-handed sugar-bowl is a chamber pot;
A left-handed compliment, a hypocritical flattery, an insult;
A left-handed friend is an enemy;
A left-handed blessing, a curse;
A left-handed diagnosis is a bad diagnosis;
A left-handed wisdom is a great imprudence;
He must have been baptized by a left-handed priest!

It’s worth noting that our British friends aren’t too fussy when it comes to expressions: just add ‘left-handed’ and you’re on the dark side!

Fortunately, there are plenty of left-handed artists, sportspeople and stars to choose from if you’re left-handed. Right-handed people, on the other hand, don’t have a top 100 famous right-handers!

I found these very apt words on Nathalie Comtois’ blog lesmotspositifs.com

When you’re in a class of your own, unique and limited edition, been you’re worth more! So long live the left-handed!

*Source: Nouveau dictionnaire des gauchers, Pierre-Michel Bertrand, published by Imago

Table of contents

Pejorative in French

In Spanish, it’s not much better

The Italians fight the same battle

And what about German?

In English, you’re left-handed, but it’s no better…