: The word "right" is longer than the word "left". The word
: "starboard" is longer than the word "port". The long
: words go together (right=starboard) and the short words go together
: (left=port).

It is believed that the origin of the term "starboard" goes way back to when the steering of a ship was done by means of having a stout fellow or two controlling a huge oar-like gadget called a "steering board"that was attached to the side of the ship with a pivoting joint just forward of the stern. For whatever reason this gadget would always be on the right side of the ship facing forward. Not that this helps in remembering the terms PORT and STARBOARD!