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AIBU?

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Original poster

Can you tell your left from your right?

267 replies

TeaAndCakeMakeThingsBetter · 07/09/2025 10:11

Had a random conversation yesterday where a friend and I discovered that neither of us instinctively knew our left from our right. It was part of a conversation around neurodiversity and it got me wondering whether it’s just a random blip in our brains or part of something wider. So - do you just KNOW left from right or does it not come automatically? I also struggled at school with random bits of timetables (6/7/8s - could never remember the ones where the answers were somewhere between 40 and 50, but had absolutely no problem with maths overall and got straight As st GCSE. That’s not a boast, more just that it wasn’t linked to academic intelligence!). Am also left handed if that’s relevant (but still have to consciously think about which hand I write with if asked 🙈).

YABU- duh, obviously I can tell left from right 🙄
YANBU - No! I have to really think about which is which 🙈

OP posts:
AgentJohnson · 07/09/2025 13:31

My right side is my dominant side. When I am given instructions that include left or right I always have to pause for a second but knowing that I’m right handed helps me distinguish between the two. My instinct is to turn to the right if I am unfamiliar with how to reach a location.

CookingFatCat · 07/09/2025 13:20

I can’t instinctively. I have to think about it. I also have appalling sense of direction and frequently get lost, even in buildings I’m familiar with. It’s exhausting.

DontGoJasonWaterfalls · 07/09/2025 13:10

It's not instinctive; I have to check, but I'm better at remembering which is which than I was a few years ago.

When someone says "your left or my left", though, I go to pieces. Can't do it.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 07/09/2025 13:09

Yes, it’s easy if you Write with your Right.
That’s how I helped the Gdcs with it anyway.

merryhouse · 07/09/2025 13:07

I never have to think about L/R.

I do have to think about 7x8 (always reassure myself by remembering that 8x8=64). And I did a maths degree, and was the first person in the [Y3] class to get a star by my name for having recited all the times tables. 7x8 was obviously easier when it was scaffolded by 6x8 and 8x8 Grin

OneRealOchreHiker · 07/09/2025 12:58

TeaAndCakeMakeThingsBetter · 07/09/2025 10:18

Yes agree - I have a small scar on my right wrist that I check! But if I’m under pressure, for example when giving directions, I quite often get it wrong 🙈 My husband is used to me now and just says ‘did you mean the other left?’ 😂

Show quote history

This is me and my DP! He isn’t quite so reasonable if we’re towing though 😂

AhBiscuits · 07/09/2025 12:57

I'm somewhere in the middle I think. I don't just know, but it doesn't take a lot of thinking about.

One area I'm not great on, despite being a person of normal intelligence is the alphabet. Like if someone said to me, which comes first in the alphabet M or T. I'd have to say the whole thing before I could tell you.

LeopardPrintLipstick · 07/09/2025 12:53

I’m terrible with left and right I have to pretend I have a pen in my hand to tell the difference.
Learning to drive was hard. When I first started my instructor used to say either turn [my name] for right or [her name] for left!
I have never been able to learn all the times tables, random ones stick in my mind because of how they sound eg six sixes are thirty six but the others I have no clue. I can remember songs, poems and books from childhood with no issue. My brain seems to freeze and panic when I read or hear numbers.

CluelessAboutBiology · 07/09/2025 12:46

anappleadaykeeps · 07/09/2025 10:17

I’m not diagnosed myself, but definitely have neurodiverse traits.

I have always struggled with remembering Left vs Right. I used to (and still do) use a range of tricks to try to remember which was which, but still always had to stop to think & check.

Randomly I also always confused the words Green and Orange. I absolutely can tell the difference (so not colour blind), but literally I would find myself saying “Orange” when I was trying to find the word “Green”.

OMG, I have exactly the same problem with green and orange. I know which is which but as soon as I try to say the colour, the other word comes out of my mouth.

CurlewKate · 07/09/2025 12:42

missmollygreen · 07/09/2025 12:38

"everyone who thinks differently to me is a moron"

Mature

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Must be very strange having no sense of humour. Is it related to handedness?

AstonUniversityPotholeDepartment · 07/09/2025 12:42

Ineedanewsofa · 07/09/2025 10:22

No problem with L & R but the times table thing definitely resonates, certain ones would not stick no matter how much I tried. Same with some spellings, ‘necessary’ (thank you auto correct!) is one that I could not get right even if my life depended on it. No idea why…

To remember necessary, chant the mnemonic Never Eat Chips, Eat Salad Sandwiches And Remain Young.

Works so well, I don't even need the mnemonic any more!

HelpMeGetThrough · 07/09/2025 12:40

CurlewKate · 07/09/2025 12:29

”He drank his port, the red wine, and left.”

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Pretty much that. One I was told was “No red port left”.

HelpMeGetThrough · 07/09/2025 12:39

DidntHaveTheLatin · 07/09/2025 12:28

This is a mystery to me. See also: inside lane/outside lane on the motorway. I just say slow, middle and fast but yes I KNOW that's wrong and there's just a lane and two overtaking lanes - I don't actually think of them with the slow/middle/fast purpose IYSWIM.

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Once it was explained to me it was obvious. Near side is the side closest to the kerb.

Motorways I always use lane 1, 2 and 3

missmollygreen · 07/09/2025 12:38

Obsesetits · 07/09/2025 10:12

Yes; the left are usually quite normal, emotionally intelligent people.
The right, not so much.

"everyone who thinks differently to me is a moron"

Mature

VivaForever81 · 07/09/2025 12:33

I can’t, I have to do the whole what thumb and finger make an L shape. Also when people say, your left or my left, my brain goes into mayhem.

AgentPidge · 07/09/2025 12:30

Yes, I struggle with it. When I'm doing a yoga video I have to look and see which leg (for example) the teacher has got forward, so that I can copy. But they say "step your left foot forward" and then appear to be doing it on the right! But that's probably more a 'mirror' thing. I once remarked that my hairdresser was left handed and she said "I'm not!". It was the mirror!
Also reversing the car, because the left and right are the wrong way round (aren't they?!).

CurlewKate · 07/09/2025 12:29

HelpMeGetThrough · 07/09/2025 11:35

Left and right, I always knew.

When I was a kid, port and starboard I had to think about (I learnt to sail and as the years went on, sailed and raced a lot), until I was told a way to remember it. I’ve not had problems for years now and it’s instinctive.

”He drank his port, the red wine, and left.”

maxisback · 07/09/2025 12:28

‘You write with your right’ is how I work it out. I never just know. I am autistic, also have ADHD!

DidntHaveTheLatin · 07/09/2025 12:28

HelpMeGetThrough · 07/09/2025 12:10

Near side and off side for cars confuse anyone?

This is a mystery to me. See also: inside lane/outside lane on the motorway. I just say slow, middle and fast but yes I KNOW that's wrong and there's just a lane and two overtaking lanes - I don't actually think of them with the slow/middle/fast purpose IYSWIM.

Trovindia · 07/09/2025 12:28

Watchingthechaseagain · 07/09/2025 11:58

@Trovindiaspelling necessary.

Ah!! I'm ok with that one but for accommodation I have to say "it's a big enough word to accommodate two Cs and two Ms".

Nellieinthebarn · 07/09/2025 12:26

HelpMeGetThrough · 07/09/2025 12:10

Near side and off side for cars confuse anyone?

Yes, that should be banned.

Nellieinthebarn · 07/09/2025 12:26

I have very little sense of left and right. Also I can't just reverse routes and find my way home. From the other direction its a whole other journey for me. My memory for routes is appalling, while my memory generally is excellent.

I am autistic, I don't know if that's got anything to do with it. My husband had a diagnosis of Aspergers, when that was allowed, and he knows he left from right, and reverse routes. His general memory is not good though.

For the left and right thing, I find the quickest way for me is to only wear rings on my left hand. A quick glance at my hand, or rub my thumb over my rings, to check, and I'm good to go.

Zanatdy · 07/09/2025 12:18

Instinct to me. I remember when I asked my friend (RIP, she passed earlier this year) to give my dog his eye drops one day. It was a comical conversation which was his right eye - so maybe people don’t know!!

CrosswordBlues · 07/09/2025 12:15

HelpMeGetThrough · 07/09/2025 12:10

Near side and off side for cars confuse anyone?

I did a lot of student theatre and ‘stage right’ and ‘stage left’ flummoxed me for years.

HelpMeGetThrough · 07/09/2025 12:10

Near side and off side for cars confuse anyone?