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Which emoji scissors close (2020)

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Re: Which emoji scissors close (2020)

#31
post #4

That's the first time I've heard that there are left- and right-handed scissors. Is there actually a noticeable difference in usage?

You're going to love this then: There are left-handed bread knifes, and I want one.

Bread knifes have a ever so slight slant to the cutting surface, to ensure that it actually goes straight through the bread. Without it the bottom of the slice will be a little more narrow, or thicker, I can't remember. Anyway, if your left handed the cut goes into the bread at an angle and the bottom get much wider than the top. This happens because the slant in the knife is to the wrong side (for left handed people). It is basically impossible to compensate for, without attempting to use your right hand, which just makes it worse really.

The price of the cheapest available left handed bread knife I've been able to find: USD100.

Re: Which emoji scissors close (2020)

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, because which blade half is on the bottom affects which direction you need to apply force so the blades meet tightly. I didn't mention anything about the shape of the handle...

What you described misunderstands or at least poorly describes the problem. > Right, because which blade half is on the bottom affects which direction you need to apply force so the blades meet tightly. That would violate Newton's Third Law of motion, so no. You don't have to apply force in any different direction if you put scissors with symmetric handles in the wrong hand. You will, however, end up tilting the scis…

>You don't have to apply force in any different direction if you put scissors with symmetric handles in the wrong hand.

Yes! You do!

So scissors hinge on a pivot point, and they hinge in two dimensions. They mostly move in the dimension that they cut in, but they also move a little in the perpendicular dimension. And in order to bring the cutting edges closer, you move the handle ends farther away. If you're using the correct-handed scissors, doing so is easy and natural because your hand grip curls one way easily. If you then switch the same scissors to the other hand, it's hard and uncomfortable because your other hand is a mirror image and your natural hand grip curls to bring the handles closer and the cutting edges farther away.

The fact that you keep mentioning that this violates some law of physics is bonkers.

Re: Which emoji scissors close (2020)

#34
post #27

It’s an icon. A representation of the actual thing. It does not have to conform to actual physical requirements. It’s neat I guess, but isn’t really a productive pursuit.

> It’s neat I guess, but isn’t really a productive pursuit.

Yes, and? No one claimed otherwise. It's just a fun thing someone did, shared with other people who might want to be briefly entertained.

Re: Which emoji scissors close (2020)

#35
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you described misunderstands or at least poorly describes the problem. > Right, because which blade half is on the bottom affects which direction you need to apply force so the blades meet tightly. That would violate Newton's Third Law of motion, so no. You don't have to apply force in any different direction if you put scissors with symmetric handles in the wrong hand. You will, however, end up tilting the scis…

> You don't have to apply force in any different direction if you put scissors with symmetric handles in the wrong hand. [...] But that's not the same as needing to apply force any differently. For precision made scissors with tight tolerances at the pivot joint and sharp blades (premium brands like Kai, Gingher, etc), it will cut with either hand. But for scissors with a loose rivet (like cheaper scissors very commo…

It sounds like you and they have decided that a human hand scissoring may only push inward or outward or neither using one side of the hand but not the other. That's not true about hands or about scissors though, even poorly constructed scissors. Your thumb and fingers of both hands are equally capable of producing both separating and joining force while closing. You and they have just decided that curling your fingers and pushing your thumb outward is right and the opposite is wrong, but the opposite works too. The scissors don't care and hands support both.

Re: Which emoji scissors close (2020)

#36
post #7

I've never really understood (said like I've spent much time thinking about it!) why wrong-handed scissors are so difficult/impossible to use. We must angle them slightly, sub-consciously, w.r.t. our standing vertical (out of the plane projected forward from our figure)?

Because you subconsciously push the blades togheter in the right way, so the gap gets narrower and the cut sharper. While if the scissor is mirrored you pull them apart.

And if you teach child to use scissors, you need to explain how to pull, otherwise they can’t use them.

Re: Which emoji scissors close (2020)

#37
post #27

It’s an icon. A representation of the actual thing. It does not have to conform to actual physical requirements. It’s neat I guess, but isn’t really a productive pursuit.

> It’s an icon. A representation of the actual thing. It does not have to conform to actual physical requirements.

The article say it.

> but isn’t really a productive pursuit.

It's fun and kinda interesting though. If you reflect on what productive things enable, at the end, it's always "futile".

Re: Which emoji scissors close (2020)

#38
post #4

That's the first time I've heard that there are left- and right-handed scissors. Is there actually a noticeable difference in usage?

We have a pair of nail scissors that I cannot use to cut my right hand's fingernails. Most aren't like this, so it's clearly possible to make ambidextrous scissors.

Re: Which emoji scissors close (2020)

#39
post #4

That's the first time I've heard that there are left- and right-handed scissors. Is there actually a noticeable difference in usage?

Simple test is to get right-handed scissors and try to cut with your left hand (as your are required to do is some projects due to tool or space constraints). You’ll notice that you have to “horizontally” push in opposite way, which is really hard to do.

Re: Which emoji scissors close (2020)

#40
I love watching people go in depth and get passionate about something that seems so trivial. The next time someone asks why I don't use Microsoft's emojis I'll let them know it's because it takes too long to cut things with their scissor emoji.
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