# In what languages are "left and right" literally "wrong and right"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 9, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536 "2019-10-09T15:02:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/1 "2019-10-09T15:02:23Z")
In several European languages general “handedness” is referenced with words that also have at least some connotation of “correctness”, such as English “right”. And some have a clear good - bad connotation, such as French “droit” and “gauche”. In Norwegian any such etymological link is more masked. Norwegian for right, “høyre” is similar to (in some dialects homophonic) and etymologically related to Norwegian for “higher”. But there’s no contrast with “venstre”, which is apparently etymologically related to “friend”, an equally positive word. What are the connotations and etymological roots of words for “left” and “right” in other languages? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/2 "2019-10-09T15:17:40Z")
In Spanish, _derecho_ means “right” or “straight ahead.” As an adjective it also means upright or honest, and as a noun a law, or a right in the sense of something one is entitled to. On the other hand (pun intended), _izquierda_ simply means the direction “left” with no other connotations. (As an aside, it is one of the few Spanish words derived from Basque.) ---
**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:** [October 9, 2019, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/3 "2019-10-09T15:25:31Z")
[“Sinister” means both “left” and “malicious”.](https://www.etymonline.com/word/sinister) This appears to come from French, “sinister” is still in use in English as “malicious” but also had archaic use in English for “left” in heraldic terms. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2019, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/4 "2019-10-09T15:32:57Z")
_Sinister_ is originally Latin, in which language it means both “left” and also “awkward”, “unlucky”, “harmful”, “evil”, and “wrong”. While _dexter_ meant both “right” and also “skillful”, “suitable”, “proper” and “lucky”. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/5 "2019-10-09T15:33:03Z")
As you say, in French the connotations are very clear : “droit” (right) not only also means moral rectitude, as well as right in the legal sense of the word ; but it also spawned “adroit” which means clever with one’s hands. By contrast, “gauche” means clumsy or malajusted or uncomfortable. This is of course clearly derived directly from the Latin words : dexter (right) gave dexterous (or dextre/dextérité in French) while sinister (left) has come to mean something else entirely - although I’m quite partial to the word “ambisinister” i.e. someone who’s equally terrible with both hands :). I would strongly suspect all romance languages carry these connotations ; whereas non-Romance don’t - I do believe this duality is based on Greco-Roman culture/weltanschauung. Which is kind of harmful, as over the centuries southpaws have faced a lot of discrimination (including trying to “correct” their handedness) due to this concept that left is “wrong”. @\*\*Colibri \*\*: cheers ! I’d always wondered where izquierda came from, since it’s such a “weird” word. I’d assumed it was an Arabic loanword. ETA : damn those Roman ninjas ! ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/6 "2019-10-09T16:01:17Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > In Spanish, _derecho_ means “right” or “straight ahead.” This seems like it would be confusing when giving directions. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/7 "2019-10-10T08:55:57Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > In Spanish, _derecho_ means “right” or “straight ahead.” As an adjective it also means upright or honest, and as a noun a law, or a right in the sense of something one is entitled to. It can also mean the body of law, or the legal profession; in this case it’s often capitalized. _Estudia Derecho_ = (S)he is in Law School. _Es conforme a Derecho_ = This is in accordance with the Law. **Hermitian** , that is one of the bits that map programs often get wrong in the first versions (it usually ends up being corrected). I’ve used programs which said “make a right” where they meant “go straight” and vice versa, both in Spanish and in French (I don’t know about other languages). _Siga derecho, todo derecho, derecho_: go on straight. _Vaya a la derecha, gire a la derecha, a la derecha_: make a right. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/8 "2019-10-10T09:08:08Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > **Hermitian** , that is one of the bits that map programs often get wrong in the first versions (it usually ends up being corrected). I’ve used programs which said “make a right” where they meant “go straight” and vice versa, both in Spanish and in French (I don’t know about other languages). > _Siga derecho, todo derecho, derecho_: go on straight. > _Vaya a la derecha, gire a la derecha, a la derecha_: make a right. Wow, that sounds even more confusing than when you are confirming in English the direction you need to take at an intersection: “So, when I get to the stop sign, I take a left?” “Rig…errr, that’s correct.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/9 "2019-10-10T09:10:35Z")
Not for those of us who grew up speaking the language. To me, the difference between derechO and derechA is huge, and the bits before are also different. You find it confusing because it’s not your language. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/10 "2019-10-10T11:10:38Z")
Tangentially, on the various meanings of right: in the U.S., there is a convention at all-way stops that if two vehicles arrive simultaneously, the driver on the _right_ has _right of way_. This is of course an arbitrary convention. As a foreign driver arriving in the U.S., I simply had to learn the convention. But I have met some Americans who don’t grasp that this is arbitrary, and express surprise that I would need to learn it, that it’s not some kind of fundamental god-given principle. Perhaps that’s why roundabouts seem to confuse many Americans, since the driver on the left effectively has priority. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/11 "2019-10-10T12:14:56Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > This seems like it would be confusing when giving directions. It’s the same in French - ‘droite’ is right, ‘tout droit’ is straight ahead. They are pronounced differently, the ‘t’ being silent in the latter. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/12 "2019-10-10T12:58:23Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > It’s the same in French - ‘droite’ is right, ‘tout droit’ is straight ahead. They are pronounced differently, the ‘t’ being silent in the latter. Come to think of it, we do the same in English; ‘Go right ahead’. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/13 "2019-10-10T13:28:27Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Not for those of us who grew up speaking the language. To me, the difference between derechO and derechA is huge, It’s a good thing that _mano_ is feminine.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/14 "2019-10-10T13:56:48Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Not for those of us who grew up speaking the language. To me, the difference between derechO and derechA is huge, and the bits before are also different. You find it confusing because it’s not your language. I think they found hard to distinguish between “derechO” and “derechA” due to the non-phonetic nature of English, in an English word only God knows how that “A” or “O” will sound (ex: the “o” in “woman” and the “o” in “pony”), whereas in Spanish “A” always sounds like “A” and “O” always sounds like “O”. ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/15 "2019-10-10T14:12:36Z")
Turkish for right is sağ, which also means “healthy, alive, safe”. The word for left (sol) doesn’t really have a double-meaning, though several idioms imply that the left side is the “wrong” side. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/16 "2019-10-10T18:55:24Z")
In German, “rechts” has the same positive connotations as “right” in English, as in “das Recht” (the law) or “Es ist recht” (it is right/just). “Links” carries negative connotations in variations like “linkisch” (awkward, clumsy) and the verb “linken” (to cheat, to screw s. b.). ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/17 "2019-10-10T20:24:09Z")
I don’t know Hebrew, but translations of Ecclesiastes 10.2 seem to imply that there is some connotation right/good and left/bad in the original text. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/18 "2019-10-10T20:34:58Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Tangentially, on the various meanings of right: in the U.S., there is a convention at all-way stops that if two vehicles arrive simultaneously, the driver on the _right_ has _right of way_. This is the law, but the convention nowhere. Two cars never arrive simultaneously, and the more aggressive driver usually assumes the right of way. If you were confused at all, in practice, the other driver is either going to way you ahead or just go. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/19 "2019-10-10T20:36:09Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > It’s a good thing that _mano_ is feminine.😉 …except when not 😃 But when not, it’s a completely different meaning. [spoiler]As apocope of _hermano_, that is, exact equivalent of the English-language “bro”, it’s masculine. In the meaning of “hand; side, direction”, it’s feminine.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536/20 "2019-10-10T21:19:23Z")
Ignotus: > [@](#): > > I don’t know Hebrew, but translations of Ecclesiastes 10.2 seem to imply that there is some connotation right/good and left/bad in the original text. I do know Hebrew, and it’s right-wise and left-foolish, not directly correlated with good and evil. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-languages-are-left-and-right-literally-wrong-and-right/841536.md?page=2)