[Vocabulary] Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed batsman

[Aamir Tariq]

Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed batsman

In Pakistan we use "left hander" to refer to a left-handed batsman when we talk about the game of cricket. Is it okay to use "left hander" and should we use it as a pair of two words with space in the middle or should we use it as one word like this "lefthander" or with a hypen "left-hander"?

Wasim Akram, Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar were left handers.
Wasim Akram, Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar were left-handers.
Wasim Akram, Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar were lefthanders.

Regards,
Aamir the Global Citizen

 

[GoesStation]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

That term doesn't exist in AmE. We'd say that someone bats left-handed or ​is a left-handed batter​ (when referring to baseball).

 

[SoothingDave]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

We would refer to a left-handed batter or pitcher as a "lefty."

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

That term doesn't exist in AmE. We'd say that someone bats left-handed or ​is a left-handed batter​ (when referring to baseball).

Exactly, the one who bats in baseball is referred to as a batter in American English. But as far as cricket is concerned we use the word "batsman" for the one who bats, even in women cricket the girls and women who participate in this game and come out to bat are referred to as "batsmen" rather than batswomen".

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

We would refer to a left-handed batter or pitcher as a "lefty."

As far as pitchers in baseball are concerned, there are similar players in cricket who are referred to as "bowlers" but they are supposed to deliver the ball with a round arm motion, they are not allowed to throw the ball towards the batsman just as the pitchers do. We refer to them as left-arm bowlers, right-arm bowlers. Unlike baseball bowlers have different varieties in cricket. There are fast bowlers, medium fast bowlers, slow medium fast bowlers. There are spin bowlers who are also called spinners. Spinners are further divided into off-spinners and leg-spinners. Cricket is an interesting game. And some Americans also play cricket at club level.

I think "lefty" is used for both a left-handed batsman as well as for a left-arm bowler in cricket.

 

[GoesStation]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

Some baseball players bat left- or right-handed depending on circumstances. They can even switch while they're at bat (i.e., between pitches). Such players are called switch hitters.

Batting left-handed conveys an advantage when the batter gets a hit: the distance to first base (which the batter runs to after getting the hit) is about one step less from the right-hand side of the batter's box. A left-handed batter stands in the right-hand side of the box.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

"Left-hander" works for me as a noun.

 

[Rover_KE]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

'Left-hander' is defined as 'someone who is left-handed' in all the dictionaries here — including the American ones.

 

[Raymott]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

I suppose it's possible for a generally right-handed person to bat left-handed, but I can't think of an example.

 

[Rover_KE]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

Some cricketers bat right-handed and bowl left-handed, and vice versa.

 

[Barb_D]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

That term doesn't exist in AmE. We'd say that someone bats left-handed or ​is a left-handed batter​ (when referring to baseball).

I can't agree. A quick google search of "left-hander" reveals many recent news stories, primarily about baseball players.

 

[GoesStation]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

Barb,

On reflection I have to agree with you. I'm not sure where I got that idea.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

Some baseball players bat left- or right-handed depending on circumstances. They can even switch while they're at bat (i.e., between pitches). Such players are called switch hitters.

Batting left-handed conveys an advantage when the batter gets a hit: the distance to first base (which the batter runs to after getting the hit) is about one step less from the right-hand side of the batter's box. A left-handed batter stands in the right-hand side of the box.

Two questions to GoesStation.

How many batters are there in a game of baseball (Not how many players gets an opportunity to bat in the entire game but at the time when the batters are occupying the bases)? I guess there are four bases so there might be four batters occupying each base. There are two batsmen at each end of the cricket pitch.

How many formats do you have in the game of Baseball?

We have three formats of cricket.
1. Test Cricket (Five day game and in can end in a draw (no result). Americans are too busy to waste their time watching this type of format. But that is the true cricket.

2. One Day Cricket (Each team plays 50 overs, so a total of 100 overs are bowled, each over comprises of 6 deliveries, a delivery is similar a pitcher throws the ball towards the batter, this type of format is more likely to end with a result in the end).

3. T-Twenty or Twenty Twenty Cricket (Each team plays 20 overs each and this type of a match takes 2 and a half hour to complete, it is full of entertainment with smaller grounds and batsmen are supposed to accumulate as many runs as he can consuming the least number of deliveries he faces). This type of cricket was introduced to the United States of America by Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

"Left-hander" works for me as a noun.

Cricket was originated in the Great Britain so a response from a British native speaker in this regard has more weight as far as cricket is concerned. But when I type left-hander over here the speller checker rejects it and a red line appears underneath this word.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

Some cricketers bat right-handed and bowl left-handed, and vice versa.

Yes that's very true, We had Ijaz Ahmad in the 90s who used to bat right-handed and bowl left arm medium fast.

 

[GoesStation]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

Two questions to GoesStation.

How many batters are there in a game of baseball (Not how many players gets an opportunity to bat in the entire game but at the time when the batters are occupying the bases)? I guess there are four bases so there might be four batters occupying each base. There are two batsmen at each end of the cricket pitch.

How many formats do you have in the game of Baseball?

Only one player bats at a time. The batter stands to one side of home base, which defines two sides of the target the pitcher aims for and is the end point of the run around the bases which scores a run. When the batter gets a hit, he* runs towards first base.

If he makes it safely to first, he can continue running, touching second, third, and finally, home base to score a run -- if he's not tagged or thrown "out" between bases. Professional baseball is a low-scoring game; scores above ten runs are very rare.

Only one format of professional baseball exists in the US, although you could consider the nearly identical game of softball a different format rather than a different game altogether. (Softball uses a larger and slightly softer ball and has slightly different rules.)

*I chose to use the masculine pronoun, but girls and women play baseball too.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Is it okay to use "left hander", "left-hander", or lefthander for left-handed bat

Cricket [STRIKE]was[/STRIKE] originated in [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] Great Britain so a response from a British native speaker in this regard has more weight as far as cricket is concerned. [STRIKE]But[/STRIKE] However, when I type "left-hander" over here, the [STRIKE]speller[/STRIKE] spell/spelling checker rejects it and a red line appears underneath it. [STRIKE]this word.[/STRIKE]

Note my corrections above.

We don't say that something "was originated in ...", just that it "originated in ...".

When I type lefthander (no hyphen), I get a red line under it. If I type left-hander (with a hyphen), it's fine. It's possible that my spellchecker is set to BrE and yours isn't.