Today’s word of the day, thanks to Words Coach (https://www.wordscoach.com/dictionary), is dexterous. Dexterous is an adjective that means “mentally adroit and skillful” or “done with mental or physical skill, quickness, or grace” or “skillful and competent with the hands” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dexterous). It can be pronounced in two slightly different ways: / ˈdɛk strəs, -stər əs / (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/dexterous). The second choice, / ˈdɛk stər əs / is three syllables, with the vowels in the second and third syllables reduced to schwa. In the first choice, the schwa in the second syllable is dropped completely and the sounds elided. This is fairly typical of English, that a vowel in an unstressed syllable is reduced to schwa before it disappears completely, although not in the spelling. My home town, Bethlehem, PA, is often pronounced / ˈbɛθ lɪˌhɛm / by visitors, but it is pronounced / ˈbɛθ ləm / by natives.

According to Etymonline.com, the word appears in English “c. 1600, ‘convenient, suitable’ (a sense now obsolete), formed in English from Latin dexter ‘skillful’ (from PIE root *deks- ‘right, opposite of left; south’) + -ous. Sense of ‘deft or nimble with the hands, quick and precise in action’ is from 1630s. Meaning ‘mentally skillful, clever’ is from 1620s” (https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=dexterous). That PIE root “might also be the source of: Sanskrit daksinah ‘on the right hand, southern, skillful;’ Avestan dashina- ‘on the right hand;’ Greek dexios ‘on the right hand,’ also ‘fortunate, clever;’ Latin dexter ‘skillful,’ also ‘right (hand);’ Old Irish dess ‘on the right hand, southern;  Welsh deheu; Gaulish Dexsiva, name of a goddess of fortune; Gothic taihswa; Lithuanian dešinas; Old Church Slavonic desnu, Russian desnoj” (ibid.).

M-W adds, “Dexterous comes from the Latin word dexter, meaning ‘on the right side.’ Since most people are right-handed, and therefore do things more easily with their right hand, dexter developed the additional sense of ‘skillful.’ English speakers crafted dexterous from dexter and have been using the resulting adjective for anyone who is skillful—in either a physical or mental capacity—since at least the early 1600s. (The noun dexterity arrived a bit earlier, influenced both by Latin and the Middle French word dexterité). The adjective ambidextrous, which combines dexter with the Latin prefix ambi-, meaning ‘both,’ describes one who is able to use both hands in an equally skillful way” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dexterous).

In 1927, Babe Ruth set a new home run record with 60 dingers during the 154-game season. In 1961, Roger Maris broke that record with 61 home runs, though it was during a 162-game season and the the last two home runs came in games 158 and 162 (actually, the official record book has them in games 159 and 163 because on April 22 the Yanks and Orioles played the second game of a doubleheader to a 7-inning tie, and there are no ties in baseball, yet somehow the results of that game held; then again, Maris didn’t hit his first home run that season until April 26). It was tough on Maris because a lot of people were, for some unknown reason, angry that he was challenging the record, and many people discounted the record because it happened in more games than Ruth’s Yankees played in 1927. Nevertheless, the record stood for many years.

So here is one remarkable fact about the two record-breaking runs. On this date in 1927, Ruth hit two home runs, both off Garland Buckeye of the Cleveland Indians. And on this date in 1961, Roger Maris hit two home runs, one off Eli Garber and the other off Johnny James, both of the Los Angeles Angels. And in both cases, the home runs were 19 and 20 for the season.

But there’s an additional difference between Babe Ruth and Roger Maris. While Maris was a right-handed hitter and therefore legitimately called dexterous, Babe Ruth was a left-handed hitter. So what is the Latin word for someone who is left-handed? Well, the opposite of the Latin dexter is the Latin sinister, and yes, the English word sinister comes from the Latin word. Still, Babe Ruth was only sinister if you were an opposing pitcher.

Today’s image is of Babe Ruth when he was a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in 1918 (https://www.si.com/mlb/2014/07/11/rare-photos-babe-ruth). I chose it for a couple of reasons. One, despite his records’ being broken, I still think Ruth is the greatest baseball player of all time. In addition to his 714 home runs, his 2214 RBI, and his .690 slugging percentage, Ruth also started 147 games on the mound, finishing his pitching career with 94 wins and a 2.28 ERA. And he didn’t use steroids.