Britspeak

[Richard]

Ohh... My favourite (sic) topic on HP discussion lists 'cos I can show off! :-)

At 00:55 18/07/05 , Catlady \(Rita Prince Winston\) wrote:

>Thanks to HBP and www.onelook.com, *I* have learned a new word, too:
>SECATEURS is Brit for garden shears

Unless "garden shears" means something in US-speak which it doesn't in 
Brit-speak, they're not the same thing. In British English, garden shears 
are to all intents and purposes HUGE scissors with un-looped handles, i.e. 
long handles with long blades e.g.

http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=2 
0001&langId=-1&catalogId=3701&productId=140423

used for trimming hedges and the like,

while secateurs (aka pruners) are short-bladed and usually short-handled, e.g.

http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=2 
0001&langId=-1&catalogId=3701&productId=141516

and used for pruning bushes (such as roses, etc), where you want to get up 
close and personal, and cut individual branches. They also usually have 
spring-loaded blades (unlike shears), the spring offering more strength and 
recoil for dealing with harder/fatter branches.

(Thanks to one of the crappiest and most expensive British DIY chains for 
the pictures.)