# Definition: Sinister --- "On the left?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649 "2023-11-24T20:43:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/21 "2023-11-25T03:48:20Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > “Bar Sinister” is a heraldic term, referring to a diagonal line, and which is usually associated with a bastard son. “Bar sinister” isn’t a real heraldic term. It’s nonsense in terms of actual heraldic terminology, because a “bar” is a horizontal line, not a diagonal one. A diagonal line would be called a “bend sinister”, but even a bend sinister was rarely associated with illegitimacy in real heraldry. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/22 "2023-11-25T03:52:31Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > “Bar sinister” isn’t a real heraldic term. It’s nonsense in terms of actual heraldic terminology, because a “bar” is a horizontal line, not a diagonal one. A diagonal line would be called a “bend sinister”, but even a bend sinister was rarely associated with illegitimacy in real heraldry. I stand corrected, and thank you. TV Tropes blames author Walter Scott for popularizing the incorrect information. > **[Bar Sinister - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BarSinister)** > > The Bar Sinister is the single most famous element of Hollywood Heraldry, a diagonal line on a coat of arms that indicates illegitimacy. "Sinister" just means that the line starts at the top left, but the connotations of the word may have … ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/23 "2023-11-25T06:18:45Z")
I recall that years ago the then Prime Minister described leftwing demonstrations that the tabloid press were agitated about as “gauche rather than sinister”. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/24 "2023-11-25T06:49:08Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > And, meanwhile, the Latin word for “right” is “dexter,” from which English gets “dextrous.” How adroit of you to point that out. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/25 "2023-11-25T09:32:37Z")
I always imagine a Roman Seargent Major marching the new recruits. “Sinister, Dexter, Sinister, Dexter, Sinister, Dexter” ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/26 "2023-11-25T13:39:22Z")
And of course, the right hand was the favoured side, the position of prestige, as in “…and sits at the right hand of God.” The whole left-bad right-good thing carries through a lot of history. I vaguely recall too it had something to do with sword hand in medieval times. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/27 "2023-11-25T14:33:35Z")
The whole _“left-bad and right-good”_ thing seems to be pretty ancient and spread across cultures all over the world. The only explanation that makes sense to me is that since 90% of people are right-handed, and that they see left-handedness as being awkward (I really do wince when my left-handed wife gets hold of a knife in the kitchen) it has just become a convention. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/28 "2023-11-25T15:02:24Z")
Another significant reason the left side got the ‘outcast/unclean’ designation is that since right handed folks ate with their right hands, they wiped their butts with their left. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/29 "2023-11-25T15:06:50Z")
In countries where the left hand “is reserved for personal hygiene”, do cooks have special techniques for handling food one-handed, or is this just something diners try not to think about? ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/30 "2023-11-25T15:16:43Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Another significant reason the left side got the ‘outcast/unclean’ designation is that since right handed folks ate with their right hands, they wiped their butts with their left. > [@](#): > > I been Ayn Randed, nearly branded > Communist, 'cause I’m left-handed > That’s the hand I use, … well, never mind > —Paul Simon, _A Simple Desultory Philippic_ ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/31 "2023-11-25T16:19:24Z")
A left-handed spiral, like the numeral “6”, is sinistral, whereas a right-handed spiral, like a lower case Greek delta, is dextral. (note: a spiral is a flat shape, like the groove in a record, not to be confused with a three dimensional helix, like a coil spring; not sure what the nomenclature is for handedness of helices) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/32 "2023-11-25T16:42:58Z")
One can talk about left-handed and right-handed (sinistral and dextral) helices and screw threads. This _should_ coincide with the gastropodal terminology, unless I am mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/33 "2023-11-25T17:44:50Z")
My immediate response to the question was that it’s your left shoulder that a devil sits on, hence the association with bad things and thus on to sinister. Which is bound up with throwing excess salt over your left shoulder and so forth. Is this line of thought more specific to the UK than I realized? j ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/34 "2023-11-25T17:48:59Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > And depending on how backwards the community or society Or parent. I have heard that a study showed that those who are left-handed forced to use their right hand as a child develops a type of brain malfunction and have extreme difficulty with directions the rest of their life. It is a small sample, but both my grandfather and Mrs Cad fall into that category and their sense of direction is worse than horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/35 "2023-11-25T17:59:50Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > But, as an adult, this made her ambidextrous. Unfortunately, it made my father equally clumsy with both hands, and left him with a stutter that still popped out when he was stressed even late in life. That’s why when the teachers in first and second grade “offered” to turn me right-handed my (right-handed) mother pitched a fit and told them to keep their hands off my hands. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/36 "2023-11-25T19:12:06Z")
I have definitely heard of the convention where the demon appears stage left and the hero appears stage right, but I have no idea if that is originally a UK invention, or what. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/37 "2023-11-25T19:15:04Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > made her ambidextrous Though I never encountered any issues of that nature at all, I am fortunate in that I do have a bit of ambidexterity. I can throw with either hand, and I do swinging sports, such as hockey, golf, and baseball, right handed. When I first joined the military and I was on the rifle range for the first time, I was holding the rifle left handed and the range safety officer suggested I try it the other way, which I was able to do seamlessly, and have done ever since. And I play guitar right handed. But writing - there is absolutely no doubt that I am left handed. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/38 "2023-11-25T19:20:42Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > When I first joined the military and I was on the rifle range for the first time, I was holding the rifle left handed and the range safety officer suggested I try it the other way, which I was able to do seamlessly, and have done ever since. I wonder if your right eye is your dominant eye. I’m right-handed, and my parents tell me that I never showed any inclination for preferring my left hand when I was a young child. As a teenager, I took some archery lessons, and it was there that I learned that I’m left-eyed. As a result, I fire a bow (and a longarm) left-handed, so that I’m able to sight properly. I was also terrible at hitting a baseball (which I always did right-handed), until grad school, when my roommate pointed out that, since I’m left-eyed, I should try hitting lefty – I mastered that very quickly, and was better hitting lefty than I ever was righty. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/39 "2023-11-25T19:35:52Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I wonder if your right eye is your dominant eye. Interesting, I just did a dominant eye test as a result of your comment and, lo and behold, my right eye is my dominant eye. I also, when I’m mounting my bike (I cycle a lot), I clip into the left pedal first and swing my right leg over the saddle. And I found this on an old cycling forum, and it almost applies to me: "_As kind of an ambi, I’ve resisted replying to this thread, but here it is–I mount the top, albeit from the left. Generally, right foot is first to uncleat, left is first to clip in._ _((From a left-handed person, who kicks/writes/etc as a lefty; bats, golfs, mouses, guitar/piano and telephones as a righty; and some other random stuff like that. Chopsticks on the right are also not too hard.))_" ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649/40 "2023-11-25T20:04:41Z")
This looks like a good spot for my favorite newspaper headline: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/W4vwJgF.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/W4vwJgF) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-sinister-on-the-left/993649.md?page=3)