Is knowing which way is left or right as automatic as up and down?

[Dramatic]

Saw a video online about this, apparently for some people knowing their left and right is as automatic as knowing up and down. Is this you?

I struggle so much, I can be confidently saying left and pointing right or vice versa and when someone gives a direction it takes me a good few seconds to know which way they mean. Whereas if someone said up or down it would be instant.

YABU left and right are as easy as up & down
YANBU left and right takes a few more seconds to think about/I quite often get it wrong

I have no difficulty with that at all. Even when I was first learning to drive I had no problem at all knowing I should be driving on the left, which way to approach roundabouts and so on. That is totally different from directing someone in a car and saying "go left" when you mean right.

They're probably aware of the sun even if it's not bright, or from shadows rather than looking at it. I can do that to a limited extent.

Perhaps these could help!!! Tbh I think about turning a corner driving to help sometimes ?

I used to have to move my writing hand a bit to know which was right when I was a kid but fine since then.

Curious if anyone sails and finds more or fewer problems with port and starboard?

Ooh me too! And the same way round as well. I am not sure why. I don’t know if it’s to do with the way we read from the left to the right of a page and me imagining a hill starting from left to right. I guess it makes sense if you picture a mountain it starts low on the left and climbs up towards the right.

😂

If I've looked at the map before going somewhere I tend to recall that visual image quite well, so might then know which was is north.

Left and right are instinctive to me, but DH and DD both struggle with them. If DH is directing me in the car I have to double check before making any turns, do you mean left left or right left...Half the time he meant the opposite of what he said.

Left and right are somehow automatic for me, but DP mixes them up, mainly when giving directions or an explanation… it made for some interesting car journeys in the days before sat nav, but if I was driving, I knew to subtly double-check before committing.

Someone asked about port and starboard, I’m not a sailer, and can only remember which is which because left and port both have four letters. Aft and stern are beyond me… my brain tells me aft should be at the back (aft-er), but without checking, I just don’t know.

I had no idea this was so common! I'm the same, I really struggle with left and right. I do the same as many others here and make an L with my hands to work it out. DH knows if we're in the car and I'm directing him to follow the direction I'm pointing, and not what I'm saying. I also was worried about failing my driving test because of it. I always thought it was just me so this is reassuring!

Left and right is not instinctive at all for me. I'm find it helpful to remember things like my watch is on the left and I write with the right. I'm autistic though so maybe a bit worse than most? I have improved with age.

I have a funny story related to this. Many years ago, I was out in a car with 2 friends. I was in the passenger seat so was navigating. When we arrived at our destination the back seat passenger said it was an amazing experience because I would tell the driver to turn right, they would turn left and we were both happy! 🤣

I'm an audiologist. I deal with left and right ears all day long. Still not instinctive...

Having been raised catholic I still double check with which had I would bless myself with. I'm pretty shit at directions in general.

I struggle too though it’s been a lot easier since I married!

I remember struggling with it as a kid but find it easy now. Not quite as easy as up and down though

I have to think about it every single time by imaging I am writing as I know I write with my right hand. it's definitely not instinctive like up and down

How do you describe, in words, not actions or pictures, what left and right are?

@CagneyAndLazy this way or that way! I find it so difficult without hand gestures to know which way is which. If I am remotely stressed, it is impossible. I always tell anyone giving me directions when I am driving that I need them to point, not say left or right. Nowadays with SatNavs I am mostly spared all of this, as it quite literally shows me. I don't bother with the sound because that would be telling me left and right but the arrows can't be misinterpreted.

If I have to give directions to someone, I will literally point the way they need to turn and they can attribute the left and right to it, as I will invariably get the word wrong.

Durring my driving test the examiner did ask me to turn left, but instead I turned right, a much more difficuly manoeuvre as it was against the oncoming traffic.
After I'd completed the turn, I realised my mistake and he simply said. 'Don't worry all roads lead to Rome' and I passed my test.
I still find sat navs hard to follow for that same reason...

Blimey, I had no idea that this was a thing, let alone common! And I've never come across the hand - L thing before, either. Every day's a school day on MN.

I do the make an L with your hands thing but then there's a slight delay for me to figure out which L is the right way round too.

Instinctive for me and did not know it was a problem for so many people, thought it was just my teens and one work colleague!

It's one of the little hacks English has. When I tried to teach it in French, the nearest equivalent is to make a D with both hands and the correct way around is with the right hand being the semicircle, so D is right (droit). It's much less intuitive.

This is DH! When using a map or similar, north is usually straight up unless stated otherwise. Then, if you’re OK with analogue time, imagine a clock face. North is 12:00, east is 3:00, south is 6:00 and west is 9:00. So, going clockwise from the top (think of screwing a bottle top back on), think ‘Never Eat Shredded Wheat’. Then, if you know which direction is north, you can work out the others.

I can do it quickly but it takes conscious thought, it’s not immediately obvious like up and down

Someone asked about port and starboard, I’m not a sailer, and can only remember which is which because left and port both have four letters. Aft and stern are beyond me… my brain tells me aft should be at the back (aft-er), but without checking, I just don’t know.

It's fore and aft, aft is at the stern so yes it's 'after'.
Port is only on the left if you're facing forwards which you're quite often not when you're sailing - which is why 'left' and 'right' don't work as well.

My Dad, an academic so not stupid, couldn't tell right from left without checking his wristwatch. When I was quite young, I watched him give back to front directions, waving his hand to the left while saying 'turn right', and vice versa, to a stranger because he'd had to move his wristwatch to the 'wrong' wrist after getting a rash.