sinister Pubblico Deposited
[Heraldry] User's 1. side = observer's r. side; the less honorable side of a shield or of a device on it. Its dishonorable or even evil connotations date to ancient Greece, where aristeros--'left, clumsy, ill-omened'--was a word so dreaded as to be replaced by the euphemism euonymos--'well-named'; where your 1. foot was never to be set on a friend's threshold (soldiers still start marching with Left!). Throughout the Middle East, one's 1. hand is reserved for toilet paper; to eat with it insults al present. Dozens of languages' words for left-handed connote clumsiness, treachery, or malevolence.
- Breen Encyclopedia