different between southpaw vs mollydooker

English

Etymology

From south +? paw.

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sa???p??/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /?sa???p?/

Noun

southpaw (plural southpaws)

1. (informal, idiomatic) One who is left-handed, especially in sports.
   1. (sports) A left-handed pitcher.

      Since home plate is generally in the southwest corner to avoid glare in the batter's eyes, a southpaw's pitching hand is to the south.

2. A boxer who leads with the right hand and guards with the left

Synonyms

• (one who is left-handed): left-hander, lefty

Translations

Further reading

• southpaw at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Alternative forms

• mollydook
• molly-dooker
• mollyduker

Etymology

Probably from molly (“(dialect) fussy man who does women's work”) + dook (variant of duke (“fist”)) + -er.

Noun

mollydooker (plural mollydookers)

1. (Britain, Australia, slang) A left-handed person.
   • 2003, Joy Dettman, Henry?s Daughter, page 45:

     ‘G?day,’ Martin says. ‘So who?s who?’ They don?t answer him. Maybe they can?t talk. ‘I reckon you?re Alan, the mollydooker, and you?re Eddy. Am I right?’ They cringe, don?t know what a ‘mollydooker’ is.

   • 2004, John Leonard Spencer, Waving Goodbye To A Thousand Flies, page 90:

     I thought to myself how remarkably young Emma looked to be twice Penny?s age, which would make her 35 years of age, and a Mollydooker, Emma was (left handed).

   • 2005 January 10, Ian Chappell, Inside Cricket, reprinted 2006, A Golden Age, unnumbered page:

     In addition to those duels favouring Australia, Michael Kasprowicz was dynamite against left-handers in 2004 (forty-two per cent of his victims) and England's top three are all mollydukers.

   • 2007, Barry Heard, The View from Connor's Hill: A Memoir, Large print (16 point) edition, page xi:

     There is no doubt he was one of the best shearers I?d ever picked up for when I used to rouseabout. But he was a bloody mollydooker—a left-hander—and it was difficult to pick up his fleece when he finished shearing his sheep.

   • 2009, Bruce Pascoe, Bloke, unnumbered page:

     The fish shed needed drones to do the feeding, kids like Scrubber Higgins – mollydook surfer, fair to average half-forward flanker, Xbox champion, unemployed before becoming an instant aquaculture expert.

   • 2011, Kristina McMorris, Letters From Home, page 278:

     “Is it harder for a pilot, being left-handed?” she asked, as if adding to an existing conversation.

     He glanced down at his left arm, flexed his fingers, now free of plaster. “Been a mollydooker all my life. Reckon I don?t know any different.”

Synonyms

• southpaw

References