Left-Hand Side

[Lori Moore <LORIMOORE -at- VAX -dot- MICRON -dot- COM>]

Bev Parks asks:

>>Does anyone else out there have a problem with saying
>>"...on the left hand side of ...?"
>>Whenever I encounter it I yank out the "hand."

        So do I!

And my ever-respected colleague, Bill Burns, responds:

>When I refer operators to the keypad on the left-hand side,
>they can relate to body position rather than machine
>orientation.

        Hmmm...

Then Glen Accardo adds:

>When I see "On the right hand side of the equation...."
>I insert the comment that equations don't have hands.

>... some sort of tool might have one side for the left
>hand... in which case the "left hand grip" might be
>perfectly nice.

        and, of course:
>Did the Corinthians ever write back?

        Good points ('cept the Corinthians thing...
They never could figure out who the heck that Paul guy was!)

        I yank out the "hand" because it's a given that we're
referring to a certain _side_.  "Hand" doesn't assist in
clarifying that description in MOST circumstances.  When Bill
describes the location of a kepad, I feel "hand" is acceptable,
but not for his reason.  The keypad is near hand-level, so "left-
hand side" draws the reader's attention directly to (hopefully!)
that location.

Lori Moore
Micron in Boise                 }}}} Freebird }}}}}
Idaho, USA
(Soon to be Micron in either Oklahoma, Utah, or Nebraska... We'll see!)

PS

>>"...on the left hand side of ...?"
                                 (^ Do you honestly think this is
the best place for this question mark?  I'll go down fighting
for my right to punctuate OUTSIDE the quotes!)