Meaning of righty tighty, lefty loosey | Babel Free

Definitions

Used to recall the direction a standard screw, bolt, or nut must be turned to either be tightened or loosened, or the direction a key must be turned to either lock or unlock something, right meaning clockwise and left meaning counterclockwise.

mnemonic

Equivalents

Examples

“This will help you remember which way to turn a screw, bolt or nut: "Righty tighty, lefty loosey."”

“"Lefty loosey," Jessie muttered, and tried turning the key counter-clockwise.”

“People sometimes become confused as to why a spoke is tightened by turning the spoke nipple counterclockwise. "Isn’t it always righty-tighty and lefty-loosey?"”

CEFR level