What does さようなら (左様なら) have to do with "left"?


What is the relationship between 左様なら and 左? I assume there's some idiomatic
meaning for "left" but how does it fit?




According to [this okwave post](http://okwave.jp/qa/q6773033.html), `さよう` was
originally written as `然様{さよう}`. It says that `さよう` has the meaning of
`そのよう`/`そう` and that the `左` in `左様{さよう}` is an
[当{あ}て字{じ}](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ateji) (a Kanji used as a phonetic
symbol, rather than for it's meaning.)

In other words, the meaning doesn't have anything to do with `左`, it's uses
that character because of it's reading/pronunciation.




According to [this okwave post](http://okwave.jp/qa/q6773033.html), `さよう` was
originally written as `然様{さよう}`. It says that `さよう` has the meaning of
`そのよう`/`そう` and that the `左` in `左様{さよう}` is an
[当{あ}て字{じ}](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ateji) (a Kanji used as a phonetic
symbol, rather than for it's meaning.)

In other words, the meaning doesn't have anything to do with `左`, it's uses
that character because of it's reading/pronunciation.

