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#35972 07/29/01 08:27 PM
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wwh - Yes! I alluded to "mass" by saying that thickness provides the (opportunity for) "necessary physics"... Thanks for the clarification for all!


#35973 07/29/01 09:06 PM
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musick asks: In countries that drive on the (left) opposite side of the raod as USn's do (on the right) are the operation pedals arranged opposite as well... making then from right to left... clutch-brake-gas? Are all cars alike?


http://www.travel-library.com/general/driving/drive_which_side.html

I've had this bookmarked forever, hoping it would be useful some day. Thanks, Keven.


#35974 07/29/01 09:38 PM
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Thank YOU for the link!

I'll think of you, now, every time I turn on the wipers at the same time I signal to turn left.

I'm sure not 'owning' a car has something to do with this...


#35975 07/30/01 12:44 AM
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I'm likely to understand the person as bi, but having nothing to do with manual dexterity

Right you are, Sparteye! That is, of course, the foremost connotation, nowadays. I just didn't think it's mention fit the thread. However, without some sort of, ahem, "manual dexterity" it would all be pretty irrelevant and boring, wouldn't it?


#35976 07/30/01 03:10 AM
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>I thought there might be an etymological connection between "left" and "levo", but my dictionary does not confirm this.I think a better dictionary might.

as quoted above f. L. amb(i)- both + læv-us left + -ous.]

so when ya gonna pop for that better dictionary, bill?


#35977 07/30/01 07:50 AM
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Not to forget the T-shirt with the slogan "Lefties have Rights Too".

Most Computer Mice, are symettrical, and even some of the fancy ones are sold in left hand versions. The buttons can be logically swapped if you so desire. Getting the scroll bars on the left of screens is more difficult, but with the new scrolling wheels on mice, that is not so much a problem.

Some left-handed guitarists have been known to play a right-handed guitar in a left-handed fashion (can't remember the famous example), but it gives a whole new sound from the direction of strike and some chord finguring differences.

But there is definitely an anti-lefty bias in words like sinister, cack-handed, and the like. Another minefield to avoid (if you have a feisty lefty sister-in-law like I have)

Rod



#35978 07/30/01 10:55 AM
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AnnaS; I too have had that link bookmarked for some time. Fascinating information on how the sides for driving were chosen.

My brother-in-law has a 1928 Crossley, the Gentelman's Sports model in which the only sporting thing about it is that the back of the bench front seat folds down to make a double bed. A magnificent vehicle, but requires great care in driving because the pedals are not in the standard configuration of A-B-C but (I think) A-C-B.

And on the left-right etymology, it's quite simple (with apologies to lefties); the right hand is the one you write with and the left is the one left over.

Rod


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Subject: Re: lefthanded potato peelers

yeahbut. Where d'you find the left-handed potatoes?


ROFL! mav, you slay me....
_________________________

and in regard to the mouse issue, i've always found it quite convenient to use my right hand; mousing certainly doesn't require any tremendous amount of agility, so this 'inconvenience' actually frees up my *good hand for writing and other tasks.




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Glad to see you back, caradea, and to hear you have both hands full


#35981 08/12/01 02:28 PM
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How did "handedness" evolve? What natural-selection advantage is there to having one hand more agile that the other -- and why is it typically the right hand?



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