Clip

[quasar]

He used the word clip, when describing what he would do to the ears, in this letter. Is this evidence that he used a pair of siccors in his mutilations?

[lynn cates]

Hello Quasar. The word "clip" was fairly standard in Victorian usage. It can be thought of as roughly synonymous to "cut." In my estimation it does not imply scissors use.

The best.
LC

[quasar]

Hello LC.
Thanks for that. I made this thread because I was not aware that there was any ambiguity about the word clip.Not according to my dictionary anyway. A knife cut is simply not a clip. The action of a clip results in something being cut.But the action is completely different. One would need the appropriate implement to clip.Which is why I thought scissors.

Even if the word was fairly standard Victorian use, it still did not imply a knife cut. Thanks Q.

[Sam Flynn]

From the Oxford English Dictionary...

clip, verb

1a. To cut with scissors or shears, often with the notion of making trim and tidy... 1b. To cut or snip (a part) away, off, out, from.


Note that definition 1b doesn't require or reference any specific implement.

[perrymason]

Originally Posted by Sam Flynn

From the Oxford English Dictionary...

clip, verb

1a. To cut with scissors or shears, often with the notion of making trim and tidy... 1b. To cut or snip (a part) away, off, out, from.


Note that definition 1b doesn't require or reference any specific implement.

Clipart the software comes to mind Sam... as an example of the context. Its essentially a "cut/clip or copy and paste" program.

Best regards G

[swagman]

I'm familiar with the saying 'i'll give you a clip around the ear'.. meaning a light tap-smack to the side of the head/ear. To me its always been a victorian sounding phrase (and London/cockney at that). I think to 'clip' refers to the quickness and slightness of the process rather than the implement involved. I think a 'clip' can certainly be done with a knife.

Paul

[swagman]

'clip' is also defined as a short/quick event (ie a clip of film). I think that is what 'jack' is referring to..

[Sam Flynn]

Originally Posted by swagman

'clip' is also defined as a short/quick event (ie a clip of film). I think that is what 'jack' is referring to..

I don't think "clip" would have been used in that way in 1888, Swag. The first recorded instance of such usage, according to the Oxford dictionary, was in 1958... as you'd expect, it needed the advent of motion pictures and/or television for that sense of "clip" to emerge.

[swagman]

Originally Posted by Sam Flynn

I don't think "clip" would have been used in that way in 1888, Swag. The first recorded instance of such usage, according to the Oxford dictionary, was in 1958... as you'd expect, it needed the advent of motion pictures and/or television for that sense of "clip" to emerge.

Hi. Yes, i appreciate i am a little 'chicken and the egg' here with the movie reference, but what i am getting at is that 'clip' meant the same in 1888 as it does now :- a slight-of-hand movement irrespective of implement.

paul

[Phil Carter]

Hello all,

Re scissors... would it not be more colloquial if he meant use of scissors to use the word "snip"??

best wishes

Phil