# OK now - which \*arm\* goes on top? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 8, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730 "2011-06-08T12:59:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/1 "2011-06-08T12:59:31Z")
Cross your arms - you know, like you’re waiting impatiently for someone to do something. Foot-tapping is optional. One wrist is on top of the other forearm, right? Which arm / wrist naturally goes on the top? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/2 "2011-06-08T13:03:22Z")
Oh - and for me: right handed, right wrist on top by default, but if I remember and force myself to do the other, it feels OK (not like the clasped-fingers thing where the “wrong” way feels so WEIRD). ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/3 "2011-06-08T14:02:35Z")
Right handed left wrist on top. I tried doing it the other and just got confused, snaking my arms round each other til I made myself stop 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/4 "2011-06-08T14:03:37Z")
I just tried it the “wrong” way (left wrist on top) and I had to redo it because I did it wrong the first time. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/5 "2011-06-08T14:17:51Z")
Blast! I voted the wrong way. I’m right handed and I go left wrist on top. When I first read the question, I assumed I’d feel comfortable going either way, having not really thought about it before (unlike the finger clasp thing, which I’d tried before). I was wrong. Right wrist on top felt completely weird. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/6 "2011-06-08T14:23:18Z")
Right handed, left wrist on top. I tried to finagle my arms so the right was on top and literally could not figure out how to do it. How wierd. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/7 "2011-06-08T14:24:53Z")
Righty, left wrist on top, like all normal humans. You other people are mutants and must be destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/8 "2011-06-08T14:26:28Z")
BTW what is the clasped fingers thing? ETA never mind, found it further down the board ---
**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:** [June 8, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/9 "2011-06-08T15:14:33Z")
There are right-handed people who put their _left_ wrist up?! Heretics! burn them all! ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/10 "2011-06-08T15:17:04Z")
I switch back and forth. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/11 "2011-06-08T15:18:38Z")
Right hand, right wrist on top. But I normally fold it under the left elbow, while my left wrist is between my right arm and torso. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/12 "2011-06-08T16:16:59Z")
I’m surprised at how evenly this is coming out, given how strongly most people feel about which way feels right to them. (I’m one of those, by the way – left handed, right wrist on top, the other way is difficult and feels unpleasant.) ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/13 "2011-06-08T20:35:27Z")
Never thought about it, assumed as a righty that the right wrist would be on top. Wrong. It’s the left. Now I’m going to be \*thinking \*about that all day, damn you! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/14 "2011-06-08T21:28:17Z")
Are we sure we’re all talking about the same thing? Because my left wrist is also very close to being on top. But my right arm is on top, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/15 "2011-06-08T23:24:57Z")
> [@maggenpye](#): > > Never thought about it, assumed as a righty that the right wrist would be on top. > > Wrong. It’s the left. > > Now I’m going to be \*thinking \*about that all day, damn you! Ditto, except I won’t be thinking about it all day. 😛 I tried it with the right wrist on top and it felt wrong. I never realized I had a preference before now. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/16 "2011-06-09T01:58:23Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > There are right-handed people who put their _left_ wrist up?! > > Heretics! burn them all! But which hand do we carry the torch in? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/17 "2011-06-09T02:50:06Z")
I’m a right-right, and I can’t even do it the other way–my arms basically just twist all weirdly and it feels strange until the right is on top. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/18 "2011-06-09T03:03:50Z")
I answered tentacles because neither hand nor wrist is atop either arm. My left arm is topmost, but my right hand is almost perpendicular to my left bicep, and my left hand is tucked under my right bicep. And I cannot for the life of me reverse that, either. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/19 "2011-06-09T03:13:32Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Ditto, except I won’t be thinking about it all day. 😛 > > I tried it with the right wrist on top and it felt wrong. I never realized I had a preference before now. Got sidetracked by the [chainsaw massacer](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=611485) (sic) and the Ron thread linked in there, but then I saw this had been updated and yep, I’m \*thinking \* about it again. It’s just so \*wrong \*to have the right arm/wrist on top… _and I don’t know why._ It’s causing me to use far too many italics and I just \*hate \*that. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730/20 "2011-06-09T10:36:07Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I switch back and forth. Fence sitter! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-now-which-arm-goes-on-top/584730.md?page=2)