Jessica Wynn

So paw meant hand, and south was linked to sinister, which is Latin for left.

So a sinister punch was described with the slang southpaw.

It's just another linguistic reminder that lefties were literally seen as evil.

It would be so much cooler.

But the word was seen in a few political cartoons as well in the 1800s, describing like debate beatdowns.

But then baseball came along in the 1840s.

Right, yeah.

I mean, baseball changed the meaning a bit.

So fields were best designed with home plate facing east so batters wouldn't stare into the sun.

That meant a left-handed pitcher's throwing arm ended up on the south side of his body.

So baseball just borrowed the term and changed its origin story.

Yeah, right.

And in fact, left handed athletes dominate sports where you face an opponent.

So sports like boxing, baseball, tennis and fencing, you know, lefties win more fights and boxing matches.

And research has shown that left handed boxers win more because they confuse opponents with their stance.

Yeah, a lot of times it's the advantage, yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I think a lot more tend to bat left and right, and that has to do with them trying to get the advantage on the pitcher, whether the pitcher's right or left-handed, especially a pitcher, because they can generally throw curveballs and sliders and other trickier pitches that make it harder for those at bat to hit successfully.

Yeah.

I mean, and left-handers are overrepresented in sports.

Like left-handed water polo players are rare, but they offer a competitive advantage because they're able to face both the goal and be responsive to teammates if you