Words belonging to use of hands- dexterous,
adroit, sinister, gauche.
Dexterous-
|
Adroit-
|
Sinister-
|
Gauche-
|
Dexterous means skillful and dexterity means skill. Dexter is a Latin word for right hand.
The right hand is traditionally the more skillful one, it is only within recent
decades that we have come to accept the lefties
or southpaws are just as normal as
anyone else- and the term left-handed
is still considered as synonym of awkward.
The prefix ambi- (means both) can be used to form the word ambidextrous,
which means able to use both hands with
equal skill. The corresponding noun would be ambidexterity.
The Latin word for left hand is sinister.
The same word in English means evil,
threatening or dangerous. There may still be some parents who insist on
forcing their left-handed children to change, (though left-handedness is
inherited) with various unfortunate result in child- sometime stuttering or an
inability to read normally.
The French word for left-hand is gauche, and as you would suspect, when
we took this word over into English, we invested it into an uncomplimentary
meaning. Call someone gauche, and you
imply clumsiness, generally social rather than physical. (we’re right back to
our old age misconception that left-handed people are less skillful than
right-handed ones) A gauche remark is tactless, a gauche offer of sympathy is
is so bumbling as to be embarrassing, gaucherie
is an awkward, clumsy, tactless and
embarrassing way of saying things or handling situations.
And the french word for right hand is droit, which we have used in building
our English word adroit. Needless to
say adroit like dexterous, means skillful,
but especially in the exercise of mental facilities. The adroit person is quick
witted, can get out of difficulties cleverly, can handle situations
ingeniously. Adroitness is then quick opposite of gaucherie.
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