There is a well-known and widespread taboo on the left hand for that reason. I used to do seminars on working with overseas students and library staff complained about how rude students were in refusing to accept anything from the left hand. I had to point out that actually as far as the student was concerned it was the staff member who was being rude. Rather similar to showing the soles of your feet to Arabs. Carol -----Original Message----- From: Dave Tooke Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 12:21 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [BRITARCH] Help me: Old English crude language Fair enough, but what about Scouts? Or has the left handed handshake used to demonstrate trust vanished? Dave Tooke Sent from my iPhone On 20 Oct 2015, at 10:15, John Clark <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> Needless to say, it reinforced her unwillingness to shake hands with >> anyone > using anything other than the right hand...< > > The advice as I recall it was 'Never shake hands with a left-handed > Armenian beggar.' > > John --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com