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A comment on Elegant Error Handling with the JavaScript “Either” Monad. Parent comment

Re:Elegant Error Handling with the JavaScript “Either” Monad by mannykannot on Wednesday June 19, 2019 @12:46PM (#20224904)
The way I remember is that the Romans associated the left with bad things, with this ultimately making its way into English in the word "sinister" [1]

As this association was extended to left-handed people, its use nominally perpetuates an ancient slur, but I think we can put that aside.

[1] https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/39092/how-did-si...

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Re:Elegant Error Handling with the JavaScript “Either” Monad by belenos46 on Wednesday June 19, 2019 @02:02PM (#20225548)
Bingo. A left handed person is sinistrous, a right handed person is dexterous.

An interesting place this is preserved is in heraldry[0], and I've also heard it used in cards (a King, in red, facing the dexter).

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_and_sinister

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Re:Elegant Error Handling with the JavaScript “Either” Monad by ubertaco on Wednesday June 19, 2019 @02:59PM (#20226222)
Yeah, I've heard the mnemonic "an Either contains either the Right answer or else whatever's Left", which is simple/punny enough to be memorable.
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Re:Elegant Error Handling with the JavaScript “Either” Monad by dmix on Wednesday June 19, 2019 @04:57PM (#20227258)
That perfectly captures what it does too. Nice one.
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Re:Elegant Error Handling with the JavaScript “Either” Monad by koala_man on Wednesday June 19, 2019 @01:54PM (#20225454)
And here I've just been using the fact that "right" also means "correct" in English
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Re:Elegant Error Handling with the JavaScript “Either” Monad by mannykannot on Wednesday June 19, 2019 @02:19PM (#20225718)
I never thought about it before, but I wonder if there is a connection? - along the lines of "correct" and "just" (in the sense of ethically correct) being the opposite of bad / evil? Some people here [1] think so, but "right" appears to have Germanic roots (but then again, perhaps the idea of right/good and left/bad may predate the Romans, and maybe goes back to the time of proto- Indo-European, or even further.)

"Right" also has the meaning of "upright" (as in right angle) or, archaically, as "straight", and the normal processing path might be regarded as the straight one in the railway metaphor.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/2cdshk/etymology...

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Re:Elegant Error Handling with the JavaScript “Either” Monad by pvg on Wednesday June 19, 2019 @02:46PM (#20226055)
There is a connection it's just that the 'right-as-not-left' bit is the newer development.

https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=right

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Re:Elegant Error Handling with the JavaScript “Either” Monad by JoshTriplett on Wednesday June 19, 2019 @01:59PM (#20225510)
I usually just treat it as a pun between "Right/Left" and "Right/Wrong".
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Re:Elegant Error Handling with the JavaScript “Either” Monad by jupp0r on Wednesday June 19, 2019 @01:09PM (#20225108)
Interesting, thanks for explaining.
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