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Does anybody use "a scissors"? (discuss.tchncs.de)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I was watching an episode of Monk (S03E12), and in the first few minutes, the detective asks his assistant "Do you have a pliers?" That immediately struck me as weird, but later, towards the end of the episode, he makes the comment "This was cut with a scissors." The only place I've ever seen 'a scissors' was in old Peanuts cartoons, and I've never ever heard 'a pliers', but I guess it could make sense in a way.

I grew up saying a pair of scissors or pliers, which is weird in its own way, since it's a single object. I'm just wondering if anyone else has ever heard these terms.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Why more words, when few words better?

Most people just leave out the useless and awkward ‘a’.

— “Do you have pliers?”

— “This was cut with scissors.”

Yes, I’m wearing pants and glasses

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

No, those are all plural.

Why are we counting individual pieces of the scissors? Who knows.