Why are there left- and right-handed scissors?

From Valerie Carson

The arrangement of right-handed and left-handed scissors’ blades takes into account the mechanics of the hand’s grip to optimise cutting and allow the user to see what they’re cutting clearly. When you use a pair of scissors, as well as a vertical motion your hand creates a lateral squeeze, with the thumb pushing slightly away from the palm. Right-handed scissors are engineered to harness this motion to push the blades together, but when used in the left hand, the blades are pushed apart. To create the same effect, left-handed scissors are a mirror image of right-handed ones.

Answered by Alex Franklin-Cheung for Brain Dump in How It Works issue 101 

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