As soon as one quotes from Snopes these days, a chorus of nay-sayers begins crooning that Snopes is not a reliable source of verifications. However, I asked Snopes if they were reliable, and they said they were, so what else do we need to hear?
Snopes said this is unverified, but the All That's Interesting website says that "More than 2,500 left-handed people are killed every year from using equipment meant for right-handed people." As an ambidextrous American, I write left - how ironic - and do most everything else with whatever hand I have...handy.
But over at lefthandedrights.com, they also claim that 2,500 people who were here on January 1 of any year will not be around to see December 31 because they were lefties who tried to use, for example, a righthanded power saw.
But don't feel too safe just because you avoid power saws. Some 250 people worldwide die from having a coconut hit them on their coconut. A coconut that falls 80 feet will be traveling at 50 mph when it clunks your melon, so if you ride a bike to a thatch of coconut palm trees, you might want to leave your helmet on.
The word "coconut" comes from the old Portuguese word coco, meaning "head" or "skull." I sometimes call peoples' heads their "coconut" or their "melon," which lends a tropical air to any conversation.
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