# Did you ever have trouble knowing your left and right? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 25, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934 "2012-04-25T18:14:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [April 25, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/21 "2012-04-25T20:19:19Z")
Oh geez, I hate, hate Freeway exchanges. I write down a cheat sheet anytime I plan a trip, reminding me I30 W or I30 E You maybe traveling East (towards the East Coast) and encounter a Freeway Exchange in a big city that sends you North for a few miles and then you Exit off to another Freeway in another direction. Eventually you’re back going East. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/22 "2012-04-25T20:39:21Z")
OMG YES, and I thought I was the only person! I swear I was sick the day we learned “left” and “right” in school because I don’t recall ever learning it. I always just pointed and said “this way” or “that way”, and didn’t really care until I learned how to drive and HAD to know. Now I remember by making the “loser” sign with my left hand because your thumb and forefinger make an “L” shape. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/23 "2012-04-25T20:44:15Z")
Those of you who have trouble knowing your left from your right: are you ambidextrous? I would have thought that people who were definitively right-handed, or definitively left-handed, would therefore know which _was_ their right/left. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/24 "2012-04-25T20:47:30Z")
I didn’t know there were so many of us. Yes, I suck at left and right. I always have to stop and think for a second. Once or twice I’ve even turned onto the left side of an empty road without thinking. It was when I had first started driving, but still, who \*does \*that? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/25 "2012-04-25T20:49:00Z")
I remember as a kid thinking of people marching and calling “Left, right, left, right…” and that they always call left first. This helped me cement the _word_ left with the direction (because I had already thought of left as being the _first_ direction). But how/why did I associate left with being first? I don’t know, but if I had to guess it is probably because we read LTR. I haven’t had any issues telling L from R ever since. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/26 "2012-04-25T20:49:57Z")
I’m ambidextrous. I used to write with both hands. They forced me in school to use my right hand to write. I can still do most things with either hand. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Those of you who have trouble knowing your left from your right: are you ambidextrous? I would have thought that people who were definitively right-handed, or definitively left-handed, would therefore know which _was_ their right/left. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/27 "2012-04-25T20:53:59Z")
When I was in kindergarten, I got a good grade for “knows left from right”, even though I didn’t. When the teacher asked me to raise my right hand, I guessed. And then when the teacher asked me to raise my left hand, I knew enough to pick the other one. I’ve gotten it fully settled since then. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/28 "2012-04-25T20:58:34Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Those of you who have trouble knowing your left from your right: are you ambidextrous? I would have thought that people who were definitively right-handed, or definitively left-handed, would therefore know which _was_ their right/left. No. I am and have always been right handed. Like I said I can remember my right HAND just fine – but that doesn’t generalize to the general concept of “right side ness” throughout my body and in space. Like some others I am fine with subjective ways of describing location, such as “near” “off” sides of a horse or the inside/outside of a curve, or “uptown” and “downtown.” I am also usually aware of cardinal directions and my oritenation in space. Again, no idea if its conencted but I have very strong visual learning and place-memory abilities. In one example, I had stopped briefly in the Venice train station once in 1997 and used the women’s bathroom. In 2006, without ever having returned or ever seen it since that one time, I was easily able to find the women’s bathroom from memory. Not by hunting around but by recalling exactly where it was relative to the platforms. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/29 "2012-04-25T21:21:10Z")
I can very quickly figure out which is left and which is right by thinking, “There’s my left hand, so that’s left.” But I usually only have to think about it if I’m tired or distracted. It’s not that I don’t understand the directions, it’s that if someone says “left” or “right” to me, I have to translate the words into the directions before I understand what they mean. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/30 "2012-04-25T21:52:20Z")
When I was in grade school, I remembered right from left by putting my hand over my heart (as used when saying the Pledge of Allegiance) and knowing that was my right hand. ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/31 "2012-04-25T22:05:48Z")
> [@maggenpye](#): > > People who drive while I give directions have long ago learned to ignore what I’m saying and go where I’m pointing. > > People giving me directions tend to say things like: “No, the \*other \*left!” I was going to say I never have problems _except_ when I’m getting driving directions or playing sports–then I hear “your OTHER left” a lot! ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/32 "2012-04-25T22:21:29Z")
> [@MaddyStrut](#): > > I was going to say I never have problems _except_ when I’m getting driving directions or playing sports–then I hear “your OTHER left” a lot! Glad I’m in good company. I’m very much right handed and will usually work it out from there (This is my write/right hand!) but don’t have time for that while driving. I tried teaching my kild the “L” thumb and forefinger trick for her left hand and she (at about 4 y/o) informed me that if you’re looking at your hands palm up, it’s the right hand that makes the “L”. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/33 "2012-04-25T22:46:28Z")
As a kid it was a problem. But by the time I was 7 or 8 I had it down. I’ll still end up using my other left hand on occasion, but almost everyone seems to do that. I read the article yesterday and didn’t see much information there about the alleged conclusions. Then I took the test and apparently had exceptional ability to distinquish left from right. But the test only appears to try and confuse with adjacent mirror images of pointing hands. I’m not seeing how that explains left/right confusion. I’ve never had a problem telling what direction someone is pointing, and never heard of anyone who did. The confusion would come from not knowing whether someone is pointing left or pointing right. Also, worst designed web test I’ve seen since… well, maybe ever. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/34 "2012-04-25T22:49:59Z")
I don’t, but my wife can never figure it out without thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/35 "2012-04-25T22:55:27Z")
God it’s so nice to have company. I voted other, because it isn’t “sometimes” - it’s whenever I’m even slightly stressed out. Whatever **Hello Again** and \*\*maggenpye \*\*wrote above - that’s me, exactly. I memorize places and know where things are by their relation to other things - but not in any sort of left-right way. I’m pretty strongly right-handed, but I am left-eye dominant, and that comes out in some quirky ways. I am quite good with cardinal directions and spatial relationships, but very bad with absolute distance and directions. If I am relaxed and unhurried, of course I know right from left, but if I get stressed or hurried, it’s just gone. And I do mean completely gone. I have had moments where I have been so stressed (trying to learn a choreographer’s routine at age 15 comes to mind, when that the dance instructor came over and said “put out your right hand” and I just looked at her. I think she thought I was being smart with her until she saw my face and realized that I truly didn’t have a clue which hand was which at that moment) that I’ve just totally lost any sense I had of what those terms mean in relation to my body or the outside world. I have to have finger-pointing for directions (my husband has a facetiously trademarked “NaviFinger” ), and I have to be really really careful when I give directions so I don’t screw people over without realizing it. I felt awful about this as a child, but now I figure if it hasn’t gone away by now, it’s not something I can change. I have enough coping techniques (memorization covers a lot of it - routine takes care of a most of the rest) to make it through life. I have simply had to accept that I’m always going to suck miserably at FPS video games because I get too easily rattled and forget where in space “I” am in relation to the world around me. ETA - what a stupid test that was. There HAS to be a better test for this than that crap. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/36 "2012-04-25T23:14:45Z")
Yes. I had problems with shoes, specifically. It is apparently intuitive that they are directionally specific, but I couldn’t see the difference between them as a kid. So I was always walking around with shoes on the wrong foot. It was only when my sister (who was my age!) sat me down and patiently _taught_ me what was going on that I learned. I was in the second grade. When someone says, “Turn right”, I know what they mean. But if I’m giving directions to someone, I usually say something like “Turn right at the light. I mean left! And then we’re going to turn right at the next light. Dammit, I mean LEFT!” Is that confusing the words or the directions or both? Whatever it is, I do it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/37 "2012-04-26T00:02:44Z")
Yes. I’ve always thought that because when we were learning the difference in school, the teachers always emphasized that the right hand is the one that you write with. I’m left-handed, and have been slightly confused ever since. ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/38 "2012-04-26T00:25:00Z")
I think it’s pretty common to have at least a little bit of hesitation. I do okay in familiar settings where it’s always been important to know. That is, I’m generally fine when driving and making turns. I learned to do it pretty automatically when dancing in my studio and could do stage left and stage right automatically when performing on a very familiar stage. But there’s still a moment’s hesitation otherwise. Now, I’ve developed a bit of an advantage. I have a big scar on my right index finger. I had to get lots of stitches in it and it’s still big enough that I can feel it when I bend my finger. So as long as I remember that the injured hand was the right- which I won’t soon forget, given what a pain in the ass it was to have it rendered mostly useless for a few weeks- I’ve got a handy (hah… no pun intended) reference. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/39 "2012-04-26T00:34:33Z")
I was so relieved when the examiner for my driving test announced that we always pointed along with saying the word “left” or “right”. He said it’s really, really common for people to get confused otherwise. The worst thing is driving backwards. What’s left & right then? We use port and starboard to sort that out 😉 ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-have-trouble-knowing-your-left-and-right/619934/40 "2012-04-26T01:09:51Z")
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