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To: Brass Lamp

You got me curious:

This word has a surprising origin — “sinister” is the Latin word for”left”. Throughout history, many people considered the left side to be evil or unlucky (in Latin, “sinister” also meant unlucky), and the right side to be good. Left-handedness itself was considered a malady, and until recently it was common for teachers to require left-handed children to use their right hands in an effort to “cure”them.Similarly, in English the word right — meaning right side — is the same as the word right — meaning correct or fitting, as in “right answer” and “legal right.” This is also true in many other languages;examples include French (droit), Spanish (derecho), and Russian(pravo).
Source:http://www.mail-archive.com/word@tlk-lists.com/msg00018.html

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_origin_of_the_word_sinister

So, just as we thought, the Left is Sinister!


22 posted on 06/13/2011 7:11:47 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: ilovesarah2012

Maybe we can start referring to the left wing as the “sinister wing” instead. There is no sense of the word which does not apply.


28 posted on 06/13/2011 9:14:25 AM PDT by Brass Lamp
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