phrases - Why does left come before right?


For example in the idioms "left and right", "left, right and centre", and in many contexts where both left and right are mentioned, it seems that the left usually comes before the right. Why is this so?


I guess the begged, or zero-th, question: is there a preference when ordering left and right? Some people use "right and left" as well.


I'm not sure how useful an Ngram search would be, due to both left and right having multiple meanings, e.g. "she turned to her right and left the house" or "he stood up, left and right then ...".




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