This post is especially for Pete, Geoff, Jeff, and Jacob and any other family members with inherited (?) left-handedness. These touchable artifacts from the Enlightenment Room in the British Museum highlight an excavated flint that dates from twelve and a half thousand years ago. By the way it was filed, archeologists are able to say with certainty that this knife was made especially for a left-handed person. (As a left-handed person who was made to switch hands -- in the 1940s! -- I took some pleasure in knowing that this bad habit goes back a little ways in time!)
Another fun fact for lefties (this has nothing to do with the British Museum) is that in England polite people use their left hand to eat their meat or fish after cutting it -- instead of switching their fork back to the right hand. Easy to get used to (for some of us!).
You just know when they went hunting they made the left handed hunter stay way out to one side:
"dude, be careful, you're knocking my arm."
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Lord Elgin STOLE the marbles from the parthenon. They were happily in place and he swiped 'em. Now for the past 50 years or so, while the greeks have been suggesting they'd like them back, the Brits have been saying things along the lines of "well, you know, we're not really sure you know how to take care of them...I mean you lost them once already."
So, I suggest stealing the left handed knife. Keep it safe in the U.S. You know how easily the Brits get confused. Help them out!
CHEERS! Love the blog posts
Posted by: Geoff | June 04, 2007 at 08:47 PM
We eat like the English too. So easy for us even though we're right handed but we found it easy to eat like Americans when we were there.
Posted by: diane | August 27, 2012 at 02:35 AM