nail-clippers

I note these remedies for untidy hands, a little tip which every man does not know: Take a bowl of warm water and some good soap. Wash the hands thoroughly, and then hold them in the hot water for five minutes. Dry them well—to neglect this is a sure way of getting coarse hands—and then cut the nails flush with the finger tips. This is best done with a pair of nail-clippers or a very sharp knife.

1900 June 23, “For Mere Man”, in The Critic, Adelaide, S.A., →OCLC, page 24, column 4

Care should be taken to keep toe nails short, as an ingrowing claw can cause considerable pain as well as give rise to further trouble. The nails should be cut back with a pair of proper nail-clippers or filed down, but the necessity should not often arise in the case of dogs which get a reasonable amount of road exercise.

1938 July 29, “Canine Cleanliness and Health”, in Alderley & Wilmslow Advertiser, and Guardian, and East and Mid-Cheshire Gazette, Alderley Edge, Cheshire, →OCLC, page 15, column 7

Resulting from this, William John Evans, aged 23, a Welsh seaman, of no fixed abode, was charged at Falmouth Police Court, this morning, with breaking and entering 3, Woodlane-terrace, Falmouth, and stealing three keys, a penknife, a pair of nail-clippers, and some nail cosmetics, to the total value of 7s.

1938 August 29, “Second Edition: ‘West Briton’ Office, 5 p.m.; Arrested Near Truro; Seaman Committed for Trial”, in West Briton & Cornwall Advertiser, bi-weekly edition, Truro, Cornwall, →OCLC, page 3, column 3

What kind of person was this,w who had never heard of a junk drawer? I thought of this person a couple of weeks back, when I was in search of the nail-clippers we use for the cat. I went to the junk drawer in the kitchen, because of course that’s where they’re kept, and after rummaging around for a bit came across an old set of nail-clippers that are difficult to use and which the cat hates. […] Some of these things were in my junk drawer; the new nail-clippers, alas, were not among them.

2024 October 17, Barbara Roden, “The Editor’s Desk: Junk drawer joys”, in Barbara Roden, editor, The Ashcroft-Cache Creek Journal, volume 129, number 42, Ashcroft, B.C.: Black Press, →OCLC, page A4, columns 1–2