8 Give Them a Hand

Right is right. Right? Of course. But is left wrong? Well, the ancient Romans thought so. As far as they were concerned, left-handed people were mistakes of nature. Some words we use today still have this meaning. The Latin word dexter means "right." The English word dexterous comes from this word. It means "handy." So, right is handy. But the Latin word for "left" is sinister. The English word sinister was derived from this word. Sinister means "evil." Is it fair to call righties handy and lefties evil? Well, fair or not, many languages have words that express similar beliefs. In Old English, the word for "left" means "weak." That isn't much of an improvement over "evil."

Not very long ago, southpaws were often forced to write with their right hands. Doctors have since found that this can be very harmful. You should use the hand you were born to use.

People who are left-handed are just starting to get better treatment. But why all the name calling in the first place? One reason may be that there are not as many left-handed people as there are right-handed people. People who are different are often thought to be wrong. But attitudes do seem to be changing. Fair-minded right-handed people are finally starting to give lefties a hand.

8 助他们一臂之力

对的就是对的。对吗？当然。但“左”是错的吗？嗯，古罗马人是这么认为的。在他们看来，左撇子是大自然的失误。我们如今使用的一些词汇仍带有这种含义。拉丁语单词“dexter”意为“右”。英语单词“dexterous”（灵巧的）就源自这个词，意思是“手巧的”。所以，“右”是手巧的。但拉丁语中表示“左”的单词是“sinister”。英语单词“sinister”（邪恶的）就源自这个词，意思是“邪恶的”。把右撇子称为手巧的、左撇子称为邪恶的，这公平吗？好吧，不管公平与否，许多语言都有表达类似看法的词汇。在古英语中，表示“左”的单词意思是“虚弱的”。这比起“邪恶的”来并没有多大改进。

不久之前，左撇子还常常被迫用右手写字。医生们后来发现，这可能是非常有害的。你应该使用你天生就习惯使用的那只手。

左撇子们才刚刚开始得到更好的对待。但一开始为什么会有这些谩骂呢？一个原因可能是左撇子的人数不像右撇子那么多。与众不同的人常常被认为是错的。但态度似乎确实在改变。公正的右撇子们终于开始帮助左撇子了。