Enantiomers

Chiral compounds can either be R or S depending upon the order of the molecules attached to the stereocenter. R, for clockwise arrangement, comes from the Latin word "rectus", which means "right" or "straight". S, for counterclockwise arrangement, comes from the Latin word "sinister", which means "left". Now, this made me wonder why were the words "right" and "left" used for the ideas of "straight"/"correct" and "sinister"/"evil". Does the one who made the naming system (who might be politically right) have something against the politically left? =)) EDIT: Nope it has nothing to do with political agenda. Answer according to Diego: (I think this makes more sense.) It has something to do with most people being right-handed. Anyone who was left-handed was seen as strange or defective at some point in time. Compare "kaliwa" and "saliwa", for example. Actually in Old English "lyft" used to mean "weak". Most people had a dominant right hand, so the other one would be "weak". So "lyft" became associated with the hand we now call "left". It's not about political agendas.