scissor statement

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word scissor statement. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word scissor statement, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say scissor statement in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word scissor statement you have here. The definition of the word scissor statement will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofscissor statement, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Etymology

Coined by American psychiatrist Scott Alexander Siskind (writing as "Scott Alexander") in his 2018 short story Sort By Controversial, where he wrote: "In some dead language, scissor shares a root with schism. A scissor is a schism-er, a schism-creator."

Pronunciation

  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

scissor statement (plural scissor statements) (Internet slang)

  1. A polarising and incendiary topic, opinion or phrase.
    The Ground Zero mosque was a scissor statement that divided Americans.
    • 2021, Charles Arthur, Social Warming: How Social Media Polarises Us All, →ISBN:
      Brexit, by its nature, was a perfect scissor statement for almost everyone in the UK: the population was split into ‘Leavers’ and ‘Remainers’, and mutual outrage at the beliefs and actions of the other side became commonplace, as did personal abuse.
    • 2023 May 5, @JeremiahDJohns, Twitter, archived from the original on June 15, 2024:
      I'm not sure there's been any recent news event that's as much of a Scissor Statement as the homeless subway death. Reading different accounts on this, you'd think they were describing two completely different incidents. Like this was designed to be maximally divisive.
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:scissor statement.