English
- Historically, the left side, and subsequently left-handedness, was considered negative. The word “left” itself derives from the Anglo-Saxon word lyft, “weak”.
- In many languages the word for the direction “right” also means “correct” or “proper”.
- There are many negative connotations associated with the phrase “left-handed”: clumsy, awkward, unlucky, insincere, sinister, malicious, and so on.
- A “left-handed compliment” is one that has two meanings, one of which is unflattering to the recipient.
Latin
- The Latin adjective sinister means “left” as well as “unlucky”.
- This double meaning survives in European derivatives of Latin, including the English words “sinister” (meaning both ‘evil’ and ‘on the bearer’s left on a coat of arms’) and “ambisinister” meaning ‘awkward or clumsy with both or either hand’.
French
- In French, gauche means both “left” and “awkward” or “clumsy”, while droit(e) means both “right” and “straight”, as well as “law” and the legal sense of “right”.
- Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and German have similar constructs.
Sanskrit
- In Sanskrit, the word “वाम” (Vama) stands for both “left” and “wicked”.
Slavic Languages
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In most Slavic languages the root prav (right) is used in words carrying meanings of correctness or justice.
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In colloquial Russian the word левый (levyĭ) “left” means unofficial, counterfeit, strange.
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In Polish, the word prawo means “right” as well as “law”, prawy means: lawful; the word lewy means “left” (opposite of right), and colloquially “illegal” (opposite of legal).
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The Czech slang term levárna (roughly “left business”) denotes a suspicious, shady scheme or trickery.
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Black magic is sometimes referred to as the “left-hand path”.