From Philip Howell, University of Birmingham
Feedback mentions a reader’s puzzlement at the label on a pair of silk
knickers, that says “we recommend washing the silk on the left side”
(11 November).
It’s probably been translated literally from the German links which
means “inside out” as well as “left”. I’ve always assumed that it has the same
origin as the equating of “right” with “correct” in many European languages, so
that “left” means “incorrect” and hence “the wrong way round”.
