Query: "lead his left scissors"

[Bob Haas]

Maybe the writer was attempting to employ a boxing metaphor, which should
have made the quote something like:  "Manager Del is prepared to lead [with]
his left scissors the week," in allusion to a boxer "leading with his left."

> From: Gerald Cohen <gcohen at UMR.EDU>
> Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 18:55:23 -0600
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Query: "lead his left scissors"
>
> The quote below is from the newspaper  _The San Francisco Bulletin_
> (March 24, 1913, p.16/6)  and contains the words "lead his left scissors."
> The reference is to the manager of the S.F. Seals  (a minor league baseball
> team) having to reduce his squad to the prescribed number for the start of
> the regular season.
>
> But why "lead" here, and why "left"? Would anyone have an idea?
> Here's the quote:
>
> "As matters stand now Manager Del [Howard] is prepared to lead his left
> scissors this week and lop off six or seven members of the squad.  In all
> twelve must be gotten rid of, but Del has plenty of time to sift the list
> down to the last remaining unfortunate."
>
> ---Gerald Cohen
>
>
>
> gcohen at umr.edu