It is perhaps difficult to describe which direction is meant when one says "left" when describing said direction in a text medium. If you say "it's to the left," that's not very helpful; which way is that? If you say "it's not the hand you write with," that's not helpful either; what if you're left-handed?
If your anatomy matches that of most of the human population (more importantly, if you have both hands; this is all just conjecture) you can discern which way is left through the following simple steps:
- Hold out both hands in front of you, with their backs facing you.
- Bend all of your fingers except your thumb (if you even consider it a finger) and forefinger. Hold these two fingers at a right angle to one another, and have the thumbs on each hand point to one another.
- Now, which hand is making an "L," and which is making a backwards "L"? L is for Left; the hand that makes the "L" is the left hand.
"Great," you're thinking, "but what if I loose a hand? I'll never know which way is left again!" Au contraire! The same trick can be done with your arms! Just hold your arms such that your forearm and upper-arm are at a right angle. L is for left still!
"And if I lose my arms?" you ask.
Erm
...
No comment.
ameriwire says re left: ha; you could describe it in terms of which side your heart is on
you said "re re left: Ah, but what of those with situs inversus? They couldn't rely on that." to ameriwire (sent to 1 noder)