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I'm not sure if it's just the fact that most people are right handed. I have a jumping spider that's missing its left front leg, so I thought about nicknaming it "Righty", but then I realized that sounds stupid.

I'll probably call it "Lefty" to be ironic, but it made me wonder, why does Righty sound awkward, but Lefty sounds like a perfectly natural nickname?

Wayne Werner
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  • Also I had no clue what else to tag this - so please feel free to update the tags as necessary – Wayne Werner Oct 05 '16 at 13:04
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    I don't know, "Righty" doesn't sound awkward to me. But the important thing is that when someone asks you if your spider is hurt or suffering because of its missing left leg, you must respond "No, no, it might have hurt when it happened, but now he's all right". – Dan Bron Oct 05 '16 at 13:06
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    Have you considered "Northpaw" or "the Magnificent Seven"? – Scott - Слава Україні Oct 05 '16 at 22:17
  • Sadly I just noticed that it's actually missing two left legs, and I don't really want to name it "Ridiculous Six". But if I get another spider only missing one leg, I'll totally name it the Magnificent Seven ;) – Wayne Werner Oct 05 '16 at 22:27
  • Wayne - is your next update going to tell us there are actually only 5? This sounds like a painful story :-( – Rory Alsop Oct 06 '16 at 09:32

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Probably it's because more people are right handed and it used to be expected that everyone should use their right hand as if it were dominant. So, a person who was a "righty" was not special, whereas a "lefty" stood out and needed a new word. Thus, you have heard "lefty" more and it sounds like a normal word.

P.S. You could name the spider "Dexter" if you want to reference right handedness with a familiar word.

EL_DON
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