Why is 'Right' the 'Right' side?
Before discussing about the topic, I should say that it is not an informative post. It is just about my personal curiosity.
I assume that there is a tendency all over the world to think that the right side is better or more sacred than the left side. I have 5 examples; English, Korean, French languages, and Indian, Chinese culture.
In the English language, the word 'right' has two meanings. The first meaning is the 'right side' which is opposite to the left side, and the second meaning is to be 'correct or morally good'. I think it implies that the right side is the correct or good side compared to the left side.
And also in the Korean language, which is my mother tongue, same rule applies. Right side is called '오른쪽' and 오른쪽 is the modified version of '옳은 쪽'.
As you can already guess it, '옳은' means to be correct or morally good.
In addition, Koreans, for a long history, have tried to make their kids use the right hands when they learn how to write and eat. I guess most of the countries do the same to the children.
I also once was an exchange student in France, the right side in French is 'droite'. Droite is a feminine word while droit is a masculine word. And droit means 'law'. Maybe, the example of French language does not totally correspond with examples of English and Korean language, but law is often considered to be something that has to be correct or morally good. So I considered this could be also an example of this discussion.
Other examples I know are cultures of China and India. In China, it is an offensive thing if someone touches others' head with the left hand. And Indian people use the left hands to wipe their bottom or wash their feet while they use the right hands to eat.
But, I should mention that the cultures of China and India might have changed a lot. Since I do not live there nor have been there, I am not so familiar with their cultures. I just heard it from others and searched it a bit.
What is it like in your countries? Does your country also think that the right side is the correct side?
Please share your thoughts in the comments.
In Spain 'derecha' doesn't mean correct. You can use to indicate turn right, or to say something is straight, but not correct.
Interesting. Now I can tell someone to turn right in Spanish. :) Muchas gracias.