# Farters lean left: why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 26, 2006, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674 "2006-01-26T07:51:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/1 "2006-01-26T07:51:09Z")
I think it’s generally accepted that seated people wishing to release intestinal gas surriptitiously tend to lean left. Any ideas on why that is? ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/2 "2006-01-26T10:13:15Z")
Great, now you’ve had me rocking from buttock to buttock, trying to decide which way I lean. I do in fact lean left. I am left handed and footed if that makes any difference. Obviously left cheeked, too. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/3 "2006-01-26T10:13:46Z")
Conservatives can’t fart past the sticks in their asses? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/4 "2006-01-26T12:04:18Z")
> [@Marlitharn](#): > > Conservatives can’t fart past the sticks in their asses? > > 😃 Damn you. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/5 "2006-01-26T12:40:34Z")
> [@pseudotriton ruber ruber](#): > > I think it’s generally accepted that seated people wishing to release intestinal gas surriptitiously tend to lean left. Is it generally accepted? I had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/6 "2006-01-26T13:01:00Z")
I had an endoscopy _and_ colonoscopy on the same day, both of which can give you gas but collectively which will make it world class. Afterwards, the nurse told me “Honey, just roll up on your left side and let it go, we all heard it before.” I told her “Lady, when I let this go the Hospital Administrator is going to come over from the 2nd floor, rip back the curtain and give me a high five.” For some reason though it just wouldn’t shake loose on my left and I had to suffer through the whole trip home with my wife driving looking much like a pregnant guy. But when I got home, laid in bed, rolled onto my right and gave a little push, oh my gawd… it was the first time I ever hit 2nd gear with a fart. Thankfully though, no scratch. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/7 "2006-01-26T13:21:00Z")
Most people are right-handed and, therefore, right-legged as well. Thus, they “instinctively” raise the right buttock to pass gas. They are right-assed too, one might say. ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/8 "2006-01-26T13:30:47Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Most people are right-handed and, therefore, right-legged as well. Thus, they “instinctively” raise the right buttock to pass gas. They are right-assed too, one might say. Plausible, but not necessarily correct. What if they just “instinctively” used their stronger right buttock to support themselves? Then they’d lean right. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/9 "2006-01-26T13:41:46Z")
> [@Spatial Rift 47](#): > > Plausible, but not necessarily correct. What if they just “instinctively” used their stronger right buttock to support themselves? Then they’d lean right. Watch some right-handed people. When they walk, they normally pick up the right foot for the first step. When they kick, it is with the right leg. They are habituated to using the left side for support and lifting the right side. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/10 "2006-01-26T13:45:44Z")
Maybe this is why you’re suppossed to get on a horse from the left side, swinging your right leg over gives you a chance to fire off one last shot before getting bounced around on the prarie. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/11 "2006-01-26T13:58:27Z")
Um, I lean right. When making personal sound effects, that is. Probably the only time that I do. Lean right, that is. Gad, I need more caffeine. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/12 "2006-01-26T14:05:41Z")
I lean _ **backwards** _, and youse all better duck and cover, you snobs!!! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/13 "2006-01-26T14:45:52Z")
I think the “right cheek sneak” is SOP in the farting business. However, never having farted since the age of 10, I wouldn’t have first-cheek knowledge of this. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/14 "2006-01-26T14:50:33Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I think the “right cheek sneak” is SOP in the farting business. I’d always heard as the “left cheek sneak”. Best performed while sitting on a plastic bench, or in church on a hardwood pew. Pew then ensues. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/15 "2006-01-26T14:56:14Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I had to suffer through the whole trip home with my wife driving looking much like a pregnant guy. Does your wife look like that often? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/16 "2006-01-26T15:01:05Z")
Kudos on the topic! I catch myself wondering what’s a topic that has never been addressed at SDMB. From time to time I’m amazed at how “obvious” a question is, never to have been asked or even thought about before. There have been dozens of such things presented here and in Cecil’s columns. But this one takes the cake for things I had just never considered. I am truly impressed. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/17 "2006-01-26T15:18:32Z")
It’s well-known that liberals are namby-pamby poofters who refuse to eat meat and load their systems with high-fiber soy beans, bean sprouts, granola bars and organic bran, making them pass more gas, which makes them lean further left to pass it… It’s a vicious circle. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/18 "2006-01-26T15:26:24Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Watch some right-handed people. When they walk, they normally pick up the right foot for the first step. When they kick, it is with the right leg. They are habituated to using the left side for support and lifting the right side. We who were in band in high school start with our left foot. Don’t ask us why. They made us do it that way. My question is–why the cheek-lift AT ALL?? This has bugged me for decades. I mean, come on: is the volume so great that gas cannot seep out on its own? It has to be helped along by raising up your behind? :rolleyes: Men! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/19 "2006-01-26T15:33:02Z")
Because an annoying person sits to my right. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674/20 "2006-01-26T15:34:03Z")
It is due to the fact that the [colon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmoid_colon) descends on the left side of the body, curving to the center at the bottom of the abdomen, and then has a fairly tight bend where it meets the rectum. Leaning to the left puts that bend at the high point of the loop, allowing the gas to escape into the rectum and any solids to be retained by gravity in the colon. Leaning right puts the curved (sigmoid) portion of the colon as the high point, allowing the gas to stay in the colon and solids to be gravity assisted to the rectum, leading to possible sharts. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farters-lean-left-why/341674.md?page=2)