IN the 19th-century, Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso spoke of “left-handedness being a stigma of degeneracy.”

This prejudice had been around a long time. The Roman word for left was sinister but the word for right was dexter – from which we get dexterous.

The odds were always stacked against left handed people.

Victorian children who were lefties were often beaten and had the offending hand strapped behind their back so they would use their right.

Prejudice has lapsed these days, although the terminology used to describe a left hander remains derogatory.

My chum Ian said: “A lad I noticed I was left handed. Eh, he said, tha’s dollypawed. I’ve heard being left handed referred to by many phrases but never dollypawed. I wonder where it comes from?”

I couldn’t discover its origin but it’s one of many slang terms that people have used down the years.

A survey in 1950 found more than 80 being bandied around the country including buck fisted, cack handed, caggy, corrie fisted, gibble fisted, keck fisted, keggy, squiffy, skiffle handed, scrammy handed and southpaw. This last originated, in fact, from American baseball.

None of these terms were particularly uplifting. In fact, they all have negative connotations. And yet, the 10% of the population who are left handed, tend to be high achievers.

Among them men of power and influence like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, empire builders like Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, heroines like Joan of Arc, film stars such as Tom Cruise, Robert de Niro and Steve McQueen. And Prince Charles.

Then there were great wits such as W C Fields: “A woman drove me to drink and I didn’t even have the decency to thank her,” he said.

Of course, not all of them were high achievers in a good sense. The Boston Strangler, Jack the Ripper and Bart Simpson were all left handed and the only thing any of them said that was quotable was: “Eat my shorts.”

On average, left handed men are richer than right handed men and have a higher possibility of being a genius. On the converse side, they are three times more likely to become alcoholics and their lifespan is nine years shorter.

So ladies, if you want a husband with good prospects (at least in the short term), forget Mr Right. You should wait until Mr Left comes along.