# Are you right-handed, left-handed or ambidextrous? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 12, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379 "2011-03-12T05:23:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/1 "2011-03-12T05:23:55Z")
Anything lefties find particularly difficult to handle? Anything that’s easier because you’re a lefty? Ambidextrous people, how is it particularly useful to you? I’ve included “ambidextrous with X tendency” for people who don’t quite fall in either extreme or the middle. ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/2 "2011-03-12T06:30:51Z")
You forgot the “My mother took thalidomide when she was pregnant and I’m typing this with my nose” option. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/3 "2011-03-12T06:52:21Z")
Just stopping by to say _thank you!_ You’ve given me one more item to add to my generic Boastful-Doper, all-purpose, “I am super-duper extraordinary”, no explanation given (or needed), post: 193 11.75" ambidextrous ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/4 "2011-03-12T07:17:06Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Just stopping by to say _thank you!_ You’ve given me one more item to add to my generic Boastful-Doper, all-purpose, “I am super-duper extraordinary”, no explanation given (or needed), post: > 193 > > 11.75" > > ambidextrous Wow, you weigh a lot for someone that short. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/5 "2011-03-12T15:14:51Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Just stopping by to say _thank you!_ You’ve given me one more item to add to my generic Boastful-Doper, all-purpose, “I am super-duper extraordinary”, no explanation given (or needed), post: > > 193 > > 11.75" > > ambidextrous I’m going to be more impressed depending on what that 11.75" refers to. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/6 "2011-03-12T15:21:39Z")
193 years old, and 11.75 inches tall. People shrink as they get older. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/7 "2011-03-12T15:29:14Z")
True ambidextrous people are very rare. Most people are mix-handed to some degree, with most of us skewing far to the right. Personally, I don’t know exactly what I am. I put “ambidexrous with right-handed tendency” because I think this kinda describes me. But I’m not sure. When I was in nursery school, I was apparently left-handed and the teachers switched me. I have clear memories of nursery school, but I don’t remember being “corrected” like this…so either I repressed the entire experience or my mother is exaggerating when she tells me the story. Things I do know: -My left hand is significantly larger than my right hand. -My left arm is significantly longer than my right arm. -Left arm and hand are significantly stronger than their right counterparts. I always do better when I arm-wrestle with my left than with my right. -I’m left-eyed, left-eared, and have a tendency to put my body weight on my left leg (I’m not 100% sure if that’s my dominant leg or not. I think I’m ambi-legged). -My fine motor skills are better on the right. I have a bizarre pencil grip, but that’s about it. Except for things requiring strength, I do just about most things with my right. So there is something unusual about my laterality. But I think if I did the standard test for handedness (which hand to do you eat/brush your teeth with/write with/etc.), I’d score as a fairly strong right-handed person. ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/8 "2011-03-12T16:09:18Z")
Went with ambidextrous with right-handed tendency. I write with my right, but found when I broke my wrist that I can write pretty decently with my left as well. I play most sports that require a two handed (hockey, golf, baseball) grip as a lefty, but can play nearly as well as a righty. One handed grip sports (tennis, racquetball) I play as a righty, but have been known to switch hands in tennis to avoid having to hit backhand. Two things of note, opening jar tops seems much easier with my left hand, and it takes massive concentration to throw a ball with my left hand in a manner that even remotely resembles how I throw with my right. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/9 "2011-03-12T18:08:22Z")
Just to be awkward - I’m somewhere between 2 and 4. I’m _mostly_ left-handed, with some _recent_ ambidextrous tendencies (most common of which is mousing with my right hand at work) My Mum tells me I was completely ambidextrous as a child (I mean beyond the point where it is common for a child to be ambidextrous) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/10 "2011-03-12T18:24:47Z")
None of the above. I am bi-dexterous, in that I do some things better with my left hand(throwing and catching), and some things better with my right(eating and writing). Let it be known that throwing _and_ catching left-handed can be a real bitch in Little League. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/11 "2011-03-12T19:08:53Z")
Right-handed. My mom, who’s left-handed, used to say “God only made a few perfect people. And everyone else is right-handed.” And then my uncle’d respond “Says the girl who gets ink on her hand when she writes.” ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/12 "2011-03-12T19:30:54Z")
I put right-handed, which is how I write and throw, but I generally eat with the fork in my left hand and my writing with that hand is OK. I also have this weird thing where I have to deal cards with my left hand because if I do it the other way I drop them all over the place. It’s bizarre. Someone also told me that I put my belt on lefty, but I didn’t even know this was possible. Apparently most people thread it the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/13 "2011-03-12T19:36:02Z")
> [@chizzuk](#): > > I put right-handed, which is how I write and throw, but I generally eat with the fork in my left hand and my writing with that hand is OK. I also have this weird thing where I have to deal cards with my left hand because if I do it the other way I drop them all over the place. It’s bizarre. Someone also told me that I put my belt on lefty, but I didn’t even know this was possible. Apparently most people thread it the other way around. How do you thread it? I insert it by the left and go around counter-clockwise (relative to my vantage point above the belt). ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/14 "2011-03-12T20:01:20Z")
I write and throw left handed but do everything else on the right side… It seems like it hurt to grasp a pen with my right hand as a kid. I would probably play guitar left handed given the years of practiced dexterity. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/15 "2011-03-12T23:02:46Z")
Left-handed and mildly ambidextrous. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/16 "2011-03-12T23:11:26Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I would probably play guitar left handed given the years of practiced **dexterity**. bolding mine Enough of your right-handed verbal oppression! :mad: I pretty much only ever write with pens because it’s the only way I can avoid getting schmutz on my hand when I write and people get cranky when I write ‘backwards’. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/17 "2011-03-12T23:38:05Z")
I am right handed but both of my children are lefties. Made teaching some things a little challenging when they were younger. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/18 "2011-03-12T23:52:08Z")
I was forced to write right handed in elementary school. I also mirror wrote as a young child. I Can’t do that now. I tend to use my hands interchangeably for everyday tasks. I never pay much attention to which hand has the fork in it. Or which hand grabs the phone. ---
**Author:** ![donnie\_darko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@donnie\_darko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donnie_darko)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/19 "2011-03-13T00:01:07Z")
Ambi with left-tendency. My right hand is stronger, but I write only with my left. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379/20 "2011-03-13T00:16:30Z")
I couldn’t be more right handed, can’t do squat with my left. Additionally the entire right side of my body is larger (both skeleton and fat distribution), longer (1/2" in the right leg), and stronger than the left. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-right-handed-left-handed-or-ambidextrous/574379.md?page=2)