[Ads-l] Scissors

[Margaret Winters]

My mother, a New York City high school English teacher, always insisted on 'pair of scissors'.  I tend still, many years after her death, to heed her directives (ask me about 'whom'), but I sometimes say 'scissors', always though in the plural.

Margaret

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MARGARET E WINTERS
Former Provost
Professor Emerita - French and Linguistics
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI  48202

mewinters at wayne.edu

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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Sunday, July 23, 2023 4:33 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Scissors

[EXTERNAL]

I usually say "scissors," but I know I also say "scissor," and I believe I
always have.

JL

On Sun, Jul 23, 2023 at 4:24 PM David Daniel <dad at coarsecourses.com> wrote:

> A friend of mine insists that "a lot" of people in the US (he is Irish) say
> scissor rather than scissors. I - growing up in So California and having
> family from the Midwest and friends pretty much from all over - have never
> heard anything but scissors. He spent several years in Chicago and I'm
> wondering if maybe it's a regionalism. (?) M-W does list scissor as a
> synonym of scissors, but in its own entry. The "scissors" entry says
> nothing
> about "scissor" being a variant. Does anyone have any information on this?
> DAD
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org