2006-08-04 15:40:51 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway? The English language is a complete bastardization of about three dozen OTHER languages that were well thought out and made complete sense. Not even Noah Webster could fathom what the language has become today, perhaps he'd gently stroke his soul patch while blogging about buying some bling bling, who the heck knows.
You just have to look at a word in context to understand the meaning. Turn right right now, that's right! It can also mean returning something to it's orignal position, "My wheelbarrow tipped over, but I've righted it now." And of course, the political uses of the word. "Right Wing, Left Wing", but those come from the chambers of congress, I do believe, where Republicans sat on one side of the aisle, and the Democrats on the other.
Pehaps you should write a letter to the Library of Congress about your right to know this information, and see what rites you may have go through to right this wrong!
2006-08-04 15:51:28 · answer #1 · answered by B J 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Interesting question, to which there is likely no definitive answer, as no one was there when some person in the far-distant past decided to adopt this word.
However -- the right hand has always been regarded as the 'right' one. The left hand as the 'sinister' one, or the imperfect one. This holds true in heraldry -- if you come from the right side of the family (that is, the legal, correct, side) your crest is from right to left, but if you come from the sinister side of the family (the unmarried side) your crest is from left to right, and this is known as the bar sinister.
So -- right has long had a connotation with correctness, that goes 'way past medieval times.
The actual word 'right' likely comes from the German, which is one of the parent languages of English, and in German it means 'right' as opposed to 'left'.
Right actually has a number of other meanings -- to put something right means to fix it. A right angle is ninety degrees. If the situation is normal, or if someone is in a normal condition, everything is all right. It also means 'straight', as in 'the wind was right behind us'. And it can mean
'all the way' as in 'he went right around the globe.'
Because English has so many contributing languages, there are a number of words that have double meanings, and these meanings have nothing to do with each other, but were adopted from some other source.
Does that shed any light?
2006-08-04 15:53:15 · answer #2 · answered by old lady 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are many entries for the word "right." It actually isn't from German but from Old English....riht. It referred to the conservatives that sat on the right side of the Speaker in Parliament. I guess their views were more times closer to what the people wanted to hear so now we say,"right," to mean both correct or proper and to mean direction.
2006-08-04 16:13:57 · answer #3 · answered by tichur 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it comes from ancient text in the Bible. "...and He shall sit at the right hand of God." It implies the right direction to take, in making the right choices. It is a Homonym.
2006-08-08 09:44:49 · answer #4 · answered by riverhawthorne 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For the same reason "see" can be used to mean "observe" and also "understand". That's just the way the language is.
2006-08-04 16:11:15 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's a right good question.
Right now, my boat's upside down, as soon as I right it, I'll... oops, there it goes, right back up. Right on!
Right, where were we. I was right in the middle of a right-wing diatribe to right the wrongs of the previous adminstrations rights violations. Right.
(No, Joe, write and right are homonyms)
Right back where we started.
2006-08-04 15:47:43 · answer #6 · answered by gabluesmanxlt 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
maybe someone asked "which way is correct, left or right?" and a dude said "right" so then "right" became a synonym for "correct"
2006-08-04 15:44:41 · answer #7 · answered by deluxe_pow 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because the english language is a confusing pain in the butt.
2006-08-04 15:46:34 · answer #8 · answered by berber 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
and why do we park on a driveway and drive on a parkway? my friend, there are questions we are not meant to know the answers to, and there are questions like yours where a sensible answer does not exist. its a good question, i wish i had an answer for you, but i dont think one exists.
2006-08-04 15:46:41 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
ancient belief that lefties were evil, wrong, not right... and the direction right signified the right or better-handed way
2006-08-04 18:36:58 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋