Word: southpaw
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Middle Ages, for instance, the left-hander lived in danger of being accused of practicing witchcraft. The Devil himself was considered a southpaw, and he and other evil spirits were always conjured up by left-handed gestures. Even today, language expresses the general prejudice against lefthanders. A lefthanded compliment is actually an insult, the Latin word sinister (left) has taken on a, well, sinister cast, and the French word gauche, which means left, is used to describe a socially awkward person. In Moslem societies, the left hand is considered unclean...
...equipment designed solely for the righthander, with only occasional exceptions for lefty. Left-handed golf clubs can be found, but usually they must be specially ordered; there are also left-handed ice-hockey sticks and baseball mitts. Sports, as it happens, is one of the few areas where the southpaw has even mild advantages. Port-siding boxers and tennis players generally enjoy at least a mild advantage over a right-handed...
...social situations, however, there are distinct drawbacks: at dinner parties, left-handers find themselves tangling elbows with their partners unless they have had the foresight to seize a chair at the left end of the table. The constant irritations of domestic life are multiplied for the southpaw. Scissors do not work properly, and neither do can openers. Subway turnstiles are right-hand oriented, soldiers salute with the right hand and solemn oaths are sworn the same...
Potentially, the market for southpaw-oriented commercial ventures is four times greater than the 8% of the population that is now estimated to be lefthanded. "If there were no interference on the part of parents and teachers," says Dr. Bryng Bryngelson, a Minnesota psychologist, "34 out of every 100 children born today would become left-handed...
...palm of his hand downward. Meaning: cool it, baby. Though he started haltingly, Graebner soon found his booming serve and defeated Australian Bill Bow-rey 8-10, 6-4, 8-6, 3-6, 6-1. Ashe, as calm and poised as a man taking his morning constitutional, kept Southpaw Ray Ruffels puffing all over the court with his threadneedle forehand shots. Though he had to serve at three-quarter speed because of an ailing elbow, Ashe won handily 6-8, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. As expected, Smith and Lutz downed the team of Ruffels and Teeny-Lobber John...