# So, what hand do you do it with?? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2002, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992 "2002-10-26T15:54:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Washte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Washte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washte)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/1 "2002-10-26T15:54:48Z")
After getting laughed at by colleagues the other day and told just what a strange American I am, my mind began to wonder at the complexity of such things. What hand do people do it with? And in what direction? Imagine: in the process of making a cuppa for everyone, spoon in one hand, poured the milk, added the sugar and began stirring… then the quizzical looks and giggles… It seems I stir my tea _strangely_. How odd is this: usually I stir counter-clockwise, then clockwise - just to make sure the milk and sugar are sufficiently mixed as there is nothing worse than getting to the bottom of the cup and getting a gob full of sugar - yuk! Also, being ambidextrous, stirring is done equally well left or right-handed in both directions. This just made them howl with laughter all the more. So, just out of curiosity: 1. Are you normally left or right-handed? 2. What hand do you use to stir your drinks? 3. In what direction do you stir? For the record, I may be strange but that’s another thread altogether 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/2 "2002-10-26T19:30:51Z")
I am right handed, and I stir my tea with my right hand. I stir clockwise. I am not sure I ever stir or mix ANYTHING counter-clockwise. Strangely enough, I am not anal-retentive, but I just tried to stir something CCW, and it felt too weird to continue. [sub]S’okay, **Washte** , obviously I am strange too.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/3 "2002-10-26T20:01:43Z")
Well, I don’t drink tea, but when I do need to stir something I’m going to drink, I stir clockwise- as **Scotticher** noted, it doesn’t feel right to try to stir counter clockwise. I use my left hand to stir, probably because I’m left handed. Oddly enough I usually hold the glass in my right hand when I’m taking a sip, though. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/4 "2002-10-26T23:56:59Z")
I do it with my left hand. Sometimes I switch hands, but that can break my concentration. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/5 "2002-10-26T23:58:19Z")
Oops! Guess I should have actually read the OP instead of just the thread title. Boy is my face RED. ---
**Author:** ![dragongirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/6 "2002-10-27T00:43:38Z")
I’m right handed. I stir with my right hand. I really don’t know what direction I stir in, I’ve never paid attention. I’ll let you know tomorrow morning after I make my coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/7 "2002-10-27T02:06:41Z")
Right handed. I stir with my right hand. I stir with my right hand clockwise. ---
**Author:** ![Snugglebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snugglebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snugglebear)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/8 "2002-10-27T03:22:55Z")
I’m left handed and stir my tea with my left clockwise. I also hold my cup with my left hand… ---
**Author:** ![JayElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@JayElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JayElle)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/9 "2002-10-27T04:49:59Z")
I’m primarily right-handed, but according to my parents I was ambidextrous in my youth. I find myself eating, applying make-up, etc. with my left hand, but I can no longer write left-handed. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/10 "2002-10-27T05:34:53Z")
Left handed, and I stir COUNTER-clockwise with my left. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/11 "2002-10-27T06:06:18Z")
Either hand, either direction. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/12 "2002-10-27T08:12:50Z")
**1. Are you normally left or right-handed?** Right for most things. \*\*2. What hand do you use to stir your drinks? \*\* If I’m not doing something else at the time, normally my right hand. **3. In what direction do you stir?** I don’t stir around the cup. I go back and forth across the cup. It seems to mix everything up faster rather then just spin it around at the bottom of the cup. ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/13 "2002-10-27T08:58:43Z")
Most of the drinks I drink that need to be stirred, I drink out of tall paper or plastic cups rather than mugs, so I stir them by picking them up by the top and swinging the bottom in a tight circle – usually either counterclockwise with the left or clockwise with the right. Since my job also involves making many many many of these drinks, most of them get mixed like that. When I do stir something the normal way, it’s usually clockwise, but that’s out of mildly superstitious habit. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/14 "2002-10-27T11:10:01Z")
Q: Do you stir your tea with your left hand or your right hand? A: My right hand. Q: That’s odd. Most people use a spoon 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/15 "2002-10-27T13:37:24Z")
Just for you, **Washte** , this morning I tried to stir my tea left handed and counter-clockwise, instead of using my right hand. I apparently switch directions when I’m stirring too, but using my left hand felt down right unnatural! For the record, I’m right handed, mostly. What confused me is the first time I visited a friend’s house and the served me tea without cream and sugar. I was a teenager at the time, and had lived in the US for over a decade, but I honestly had no idea you could get tea without those two. Mutters to self, “Hen na gaijin.” [Wierd foreigners] ---
**Author:** ![dragongirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/16 "2002-10-27T15:44:19Z")
OK, I paid attention this morning, I stir clockwise. ---
**Author:** ![snac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90db22/32.png) [@snac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snac)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/17 "2002-10-28T05:22:52Z")
RH. Counterclockwise. You’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/18 "2002-10-28T12:11:17Z")
I do some things with my right, some with my left. I have no idea why. But I stir my drinks right handed, clockwise. ---
**Author:** ![Frank\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Frank\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank_2)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/19 "2002-10-28T14:07:00Z")
Left-handed. Stir with my left hand **counter** -clockwise. ---
**Author:** ![Triss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Triss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triss)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992/20 "2002-10-28T14:51:17Z")
Right-handed. Either direction. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-hand-do-you-do-it-with/133992.md?page=2)