Right back and left behind

There is a strange asymmetry between the way we use left and right with the words back and behind. On the one hand, right back and left back are generally ‘value-free’ . They are labels for two positions on a field of play, so in formation with two backs, one is labelled right back and the other left back.

On the other hand, right behind and left behind are ‘value-laden’. Although both refer to a location their meanings are quite different. If you are right behind someone, that tells us you’re in total agreement with them, offering full support and marching in step wherever they go. So the literal truth has a metaphorical meaning attached to it.

While left behind can refer to a physical separation as in “You’ve been left behind when everyone else has caught the flight  to Rome” it might mean something quite different. If you regard yourself as being  left behind this suggests that while the rest of society has moved on and been listened to, you feel abandoned or neglected. Being left behind has the same sense as being left out.

It’s interesting to note that the German equivalent “abgehängt” makes no reference to left or right.

Nor does the French “être oublié”

But Italian does “lasciato indietro” : left back/behind.

It would be intriguing to tabulate which languages ruse left or right refer to this sense of being excluded