When you hear someone say lefty loosey, righty tighty it’s a way for that person to remember that the threads on a screw, nut, or bolt or such that you turn them to the right to tighten them and you turn them to the left to loosen them. There are, of course, some exceptions such as old propane cylinders and some pipe fittings, but for the mot part, the saying is a good rule of thumb to go by. But the expression doesn’t just have to do with tightening and loosening screws or nuts or bolts.
Strange as it may sound, it’s also a quest in the World Of Warcraft game. Yes, Lefty Loosey, Righty Tighty — according to the WOW Wiki — is an assassination mission in the Distress Call quest chain.
On January 18, 2010 Professor of History, Claire B. Potter, wrote an article that was published by the Chronicle in which she discussed New York Times reporter, Patricia Cohen’s interpretation of a study done by sociologists Neil Gross and Ethan Fosse. The title of the article was:
Lefty Loosey, Righty Tighty: Socioligists Try To Explain The Political Orientation Of The Academy
The 1983 movie, “Fandango” is about five college buddies in 1971 who are from the University of Texas. With uncertain futures, and the Vietnam War a real possibility for some, they decide to head off on one final road trip odyssey across the Mexican border. The movie starred Kevin Costner, Judd Nelson, and Sam Robards. Idiomation located the script at http://www.script-o-rama but which characters speak which lines was not identified (click HERE to follow along).
00:34:01 And much obliged for that body job. That is first-rate work.
00:34:09 The other way, bud. Remember, it’s lefty loosey, righty tighty.
The first standard screw was created by English engineer, Sir Joseph Whitworth in 1841. However, factory production of screws used as fasteners for thin pieces of material, dates back to the mid-1700s. However, as threaded items, 1841 is the pinned date for screws.
In 1908, Canadian P.L. Robertson invented the square drive screw 28 years before Henry Phillips patented the Phillips head screw. The Robertson (or square drive) design became the standard in Canada and the United States, and was preferred over the slot-head screw for a number of reasons.
When the Phillips head screw was patented in 1930, this allowed screws to provide tighter fastenings as the screw was able to take on greater torque. But with tighter fastening came the problem of loosening.
Although no proof has been found that provides an exact date as to when the expression lefty loosey, righty tighty was first used, one of Idiomation’s readers or visitors is sure to have more information to prove when the idiom first came into use. For now, the expression can only be attributed to the 20th century, and sometime after 1930.
Historically Speaking 