The bicycle kick, the sidestroke swimming movement, the game rock-papers-scissors and the movie Edward Scissorhands are all inspired partially or fully with our guest for the day. He comes in different forms and sizes depending on what he wants to achieve. Among the various household utilities, he is probably one of the most commonly used tools. Today, we bring to you, for the first time ever in journalism, an interview with a pair of scissors.
The Indi Times (Indi): Good evening Mr Scissor. Where is your partner? Was he not able to make it?
Scissors (SC): Good evening. I am sorry. Whom are you referring to?
Indi: I thought there are two of you who would be coming to the studios for this interview. In fact, if you notice we made arrangements for the pair of scissors.
SC: (laughs) Oh, now I understand. Scissors is a special type of noun. It is called a plural noun. So, therefore you use plural verbs for it. For example, you would say ‘these scissors are sharp” even though you are referring to one of me. The alternative way is to refer to me as a pair of scissors. But, if you go to the United States, the pair is considered as singular. You would hear Americans say something like ‘this pair of scissors is sharp’. In other places, the pair does not take a singular form and so they continue with ‘these scissors are sharp’. So, does that solve the mystery of the empty chair?
Indi: It absolutely does. You won’t believe how many things we learn when we do this section. When we started off this interview feature, we thought it is purely a fun feature but in every interview we do, we learn so much about history, science, culture and now grammar.
SC: So true. A number of times it is about re-learning. It is quite possible that you had read about plural nouns. For all you know, you may even have answered questions on the same topic in the exams. The challenge has always been to relate to real world examples. I am not speaking about English or other languages alone but also about history, science, moral science and everything else.
Indi: I understand about all the subjects but what did you mean when you referred to history?
SC: History is the best reference to learn because there are so many experiments that have already happened. Some have worked while others have not. Imagine if for every scenario that you come across in your life, if you are able to refer to the database of historical events, you would already get ideas of how to proceed. But are we able to use the history lessons that way? No. We read about dates and events from an exam perspective. Then we question the practicality of all we study.
Indi: Some pretty strong views on history.
SC: (laughs) should be pretty strong considering my age. I am around 4000 years old.
Indi: 4000 years actually takes you back to some really early civilizations..
SC: Yes, I can’t remember so far back but it must have been 3000 to 4000 years back in Mesopotamia. I was the spring type in those days – not the pivot ones that you see today.
Indi: Pardon my ignorance but I had heard that Leonardo da Vinci invented scissors.
SC: It is a myth. Simple as that. People who claim that da Vinci invented me have never shown any evidence. Not even a diagram that da Vinci put across. It seems to be a myth which people want to believe and so goes around. No offence meant to da Vinci though.
Indi: When was the first time that you were used in your modern form? What I mean is the scissors where the pivot is between the handle and the blades.
SC: (thinks for some time) Probably around 100 AD. It was the Romans from what I recollect. The idea found so much favor that soon the same design was used in China, Japan and Korea and now in most scissors.
Indi: When did real commercial manufacture and use of scissors start? I ask this question since commercial manufacturing usually means the tipping point when an idea has become popular.
SC: The first trademark was granted in 1791 to William Whetley & Sons (Sheffield) Ltd but they were manufacturing scissors since 1760. You would be surprised to know that they are still in business. In fact, they are the oldest company in the West to do so.
Indi: Wow! That makes it close to 230 years. But I feel that you have something even more surprising up your sleeve. You mentioned that Whetley & Sons are the oldest company in the West. Are there any other companies outside of the West?
SC: (smiles) That was a good catch even though I expected you to note. Yes, you are right. Even before William Whetley & Sons started manufacturing scissors, a company in China was doing it. The company is the Hangzhou Zhang Xiaoquan Company in Hangzhou. They have been at it since 1663.
Indi: Glad that I asked! Can you tell us something about how you work? Why do scissors cut?
SC: This is actually a very good question. To a lot of people, it may appear a very stupid question but then they would think for some time and say that scissors cut because they are sharp. Well, to those people, I say, you are only partially right. In fact, in a lot of lower quality scissors, the cutting happens because of the shearing action rather than the sharpness of the blades. So, in cases where you want to actually cut with sharp edges like in tailoring, you would use high quality scissors that actually have sharp blades and can cut rather than just tear the material.
Indi: Is that why some children’s scissors seem to be not sharp at all but are able to cut papers and other thin material?
SC: Exactly. You hit it on the head. In fact, some plastic scissors can also cut paper because of the same reason.
Indi: What about the pivot? Why is it there?
SC: I am an example of a first class double lever. The pivot acts as the fulcrum. So, if something is difficult to cut and you want to ensure that the majority of the force you apply to be effective, then place the material close to the fulcrum. If the force is applied at the handles which is twice as far away from the fulcrum as the cutting location, then the force applied at the cutting location will be twice.
Indi: Innovation is so powerful. With something like scissors that have been around for so long, I am pretty sure that there would be many variants created. Can you tell us something about them?
SC: You are right. Scissors come in various forms now. For trimming hedges, you have the hedge trimmer. You have pruning shears and grass shears for trimming small branches and grass. You have blade shears to harvest wool. You have hair cutting shear, thinning shear, nail scissors for grooming activities. You have different type of snips for mechanical activities. In the medicine world, scissors are again of different types depending on the use case. Last but not the least, you have ceremonial scissors that are used to inaugurate events by cutting the ribbon.
Indi: What about superstition? In some places, the needle is not considered lucky? Are there any superstitions about scissors?
SC: There are but you should inform your readers that these are superstitions and they do not have any scientific evidence to support them. For example, in some Eastern European countries, it is believed that if you leave the scissors open in your home, it could lead to disagreements and fights. The only reason I can see that happening is if someone gets hurt with the open scissors. Similarly, in China, giving scissors to a friend denotes cutting ties. I would not classify it as a superstition though but rather than as a cultural aspect.
Indi: When we were having a chat before the interview, you mentioned about a movie by Johnny Depp. What was that about?
SC: The movie is called Edward Scissorhands. It was made in 1990. Johnny Depp acts as a young man whose hands are made of multiple pairs of scissors.
Indi: Coming to the final question for the day, what would be your advice for our readers?
SC: Leverage. This is a powerful concept. Ensure that you get multiple times output of the effort you put in. Remember how I explained about the force getting multiplied when the cutting location is near the fulcrum? Similar to that ensure that the effort you put in gives you rewards in multiples. A good example is not to study for exams alone. Learn. Study regularly and you will never forget the concepts. If you study on the day before the exams (cramming) you will forget the day after the exams.
Indi: Very true. Thank you for spending the time sharing your knowledge and experience with us.
SC: Thank you.
