The article ‘Right or Left’ brought some rave reviews to my mailbox. A few of my regular readers asked for a sequel. The first thing which came to my mind was to write about Front and Back. Immediately I checked the internet and stumbled across a question involving left, right, front and back.
‘Left’ and ‘right’ are to ‘side’ as ‘front’ and ‘back’ are to what? All software engineers would immediately say ‘end’. Though in the business of IT, I would like to disagree. The words, all four of them, have powerful usage in different contexts. Surely ‘end’ cannot be the end for front and back. Left and right can be directions and so can Front and back be. Not taking any sides, I would like to conclude Front and Back also are sides.
Unlike ‘Left’ and ‘Right’, Front and Back can mean the same thing, used in a particular context. Mr.X fronts the idea (or) Mr.X backs the idea. The difference between the two is: How well Mr.X supports the idea.
It just strikes that left and right are not leaving this article as much as I would like to write about Front and Back. No fault of the adjectives. My thought process is to blame for – wanted a similar punch-line just like my previous article as front Front front (or) back Front back. As a flash, the prefix for Front figured as ‘Left Front’ or ‘Right Front’ (if there is such a thing in politics) – something like ‘My friend would like to front Front front for this elections (or) back Front back for this elections.
Well. We have established we can punch it out with Front and Back. What I would really like to highlight in this article is the huge difference in treatment we do for Right vs Left and Front vs Back. Injustice! Shaking hand with the Left is an insult (what will lefties do?)… Showing the Back to a dignitary in award ceremonies is an insult (How will one walk back after receiving an award?)
In contemporary diplomatic meetings, most would like to see the back of others. So, seeing the back of someone is endearing and not insulting.
Right and Front are dignified. Left and Back are belittled. Let us give more dignity to Left and Back. ‘Left’ is where the heart is and ‘back’ is where the Brain is. I would say a left handshake is heartier. Also, I would prefer a pat on the ‘back’ for a job well done – definitely not a peck on the Cheek.
In Football, a Quarterback is the King and in Tennis, playing from deep baseline (extremely back in the court) is celebrated. In music, Background scores win Oscars and Grammys.
Back me up here! Let us front both ‘Back’ and ‘Front’ with equal dignity and importance! Cheers!