# Death by a thousand paper cuts. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058 "2011-05-16T03:03:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/21 "2011-05-16T19:56:25Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > And when the cuttin’ was done the only part that wasn’t bloody was the soles of the big man’s feet. According to my pal the bad guy really did look pretty amazingly bloodied from what my pal knew to be not that many not that severe small cuts. Even trivial face wounds bleed like mad. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/22 "2011-05-16T22:52:29Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I think that by leaving out bacteria you are hindering the discussion. Obviously leaving out rare bacteria, what about a simple staph infection. Now multiply by 1000. Could the body handle that? Dudes, they cut slices of body _off_ in the classical chinese version. Trust me, if you google image it, there is more than one very clear image of a guy with ribs showing, chunks of muscle and skin off the thighs, arms … there is no surviving something like that, once the shock sets in you are going to bleed out [if they didn’t garrotte you or some other final act] The 1000 is poetical … not realistic. Though I suppose if you kept the sliced off bits very small you might be able to do it. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/23 "2011-05-17T03:27:38Z")
So I did actually mean 'death of a thousand _PAPER_ cuts. It’s obvious to anyone that the _death of a thousand cuts_ method of torture would be fatal in short order. I’m interested in the other - and to be fair to me, there are about 500,000 hits on google for death of a thousand paper cuts, so it’s not like I made it up. Regarding the answers to my OP: **Rythymdvl** : if 12 drops = an ML then 1,000 cuts would result in 1,000 MLs of blood lost or a litre. I believe a typical blood donation is about 500 ML so I imagine 1 L probably wouldn’t kill you, but I’d be happy to hear other opinions. **Saint Cad** - I was ruling out bacteria because it’s kind of obvious. You could die of one paper cut if bacteria got in it. I’m thinking of something more directly related to the number of paper cuts. And for arguments sake, they don’t have to be little wee paper cuts - I’ve had some nasty ones from handling cardboard and whatnot, so lets say it’s a mix of small, medium and large paper cuts. **Parenchyma** - can you elaborate? I understand the words in your post, but I’m not sure what they mean - what would a human’s pack blood volume usually be? What sort of drop could they expect if they lost a liter of blood (as per **Rythmdvl’s** calculations)? What sort of clinical effects would such a drop have? Well, other than kitten death. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/24 "2011-05-17T03:52:22Z")
Here we go: [Death by a Thousand Cuts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_slicing), by an odd coincidence used by imperial China for about a thousand years. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/25 "2011-05-17T03:52:46Z")
How about sensory overload or the heart’s inability to keep the blood pressure up, what with all those leaks? At that point you’re talking of at least a class 2, if not 3, hemmorhage. Shock is guaranteed from the blood loss alone, much less the pain, so you won’t be able to effect any coping mechanisms like elevating your extremities or putting pressure on more serious cuts. It depends on the time aspect as well. If the thousand paper cuts appear instantly, your brain would probably turn off in protest, but over several days with regular, healthy meals and time to sleep, it could probably be managed. At least if you remove all the side issues and complications like bacteria and pre-existing conditions like diabetes and haemophilia. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/26 "2011-05-17T05:47:02Z")
From the photo it looks as if they are skinning the guy. If a human is like most animals than once you can get a firm grasp of the skin it’s mostly tearing with short quick cuts on the connective tissue under tension. I just don’t know, or want to know, how many paper cuts it would take to be able to get a grasp of the skin. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/27 "2011-05-17T07:53:55Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > From the photo it looks as if they are skinning the guy. If a human is like most animals than once you can get a firm grasp of the skin it’s mostly tearing with short quick cuts on the connective tissue under tension. I just don’t know, or want to know, how many paper cuts it would take to be able to get a grasp of the skin. ?? What on earth are you talking about? Why would it even be necessary to grab the skin? I’m asking about 1,000 regular old paper cuts. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/28 "2011-05-17T13:36:04Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > So I did actually mean 'death of a thousand _PAPER_ cuts. > > It’s obvious to anyone that the _death of a thousand cuts_ method of torture would be fatal in short order. I’m interested in the other - and to be fair to me, there are about 500,000 hits on google for death of a thousand paper cuts, so it’s not like I made it up. The second hit is this thread. The others, as far as I could be bothered with, use the phrase ironically to refer to things like this: > [@](#): > > The proposed federal money funding Planned Parenthood is around $75 million, and even though this may be considered small, remember that our economy is being killed by a death of a thousand paper cuts. Small amounts of money must be scrutinized to fix the overall problem. I could not find a literal usage. Not saying you made it up, but it’s not the original phrase. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/29 "2011-05-17T15:33:47Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I could not find a literal usage. Not saying you made it up, but it’s not the original phrase. Yes? And your point is what, exactly? Do you actually have an answer to the OP? Paper cuts. 1,000 of them. Would it kill you? If so, how? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/30 "2011-05-17T16:07:22Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > **Saint Cad** - I was ruling out bacteria because it’s kind of obvious. You could die of one paper cut if bacteria got in it. I’m thinking of something more directly related to the number of paper cuts. But my point is we can assume that the body can fight off the relatively small infection from a small papercut without treatment. Is it possible that you could die from an infection in just one cut? sure. You could also bleed to death if your blood doesn’t clot. But in the schema of what is reasonable, when do a whole bunch of little infections become sepsis that the body cannot deal with? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/31 "2011-05-17T16:25:22Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > But in the schema of what is reasonable, when do a whole bunch of little infections become sepsis that the body cannot deal with? Humm. That’s a good point. Ok, so little infections are allowed, but flesh eating bacteria is not, just because it’s sort of getting away from the point. So, would a bunch of little infections kill you? ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/32 "2011-05-17T17:55:43Z")
I just thought I’d add that I have had paper cuts that bled like a _bleep_! Of course, most don’t, but if you were really trying to kill with paper cuts, you’d be aiming for deeper and more severe cuts. If we were to bump up the 1 mL number to even 2 or 3, you’d be talking about some serious blood loss. Repeated cuts in the same location could make the cut pretty deep. And a paper-cut killer would go for the most sensitive areas: eyes, neck, genitals, etc. So I think it’s safe to conclude that you could kill someone with a thousand intentionally placed paper cuts, but probably not with a thousand random or accidental cuts. ---
**Author:** ![Parenchyma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Parenchyma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parenchyma)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/33 "2011-05-18T02:36:25Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Regarding the answers to my OP: > > (snip) > > **Parenchyma** - can you elaborate? I understand the words in your post, but I’m not sure what they mean - what would a human’s pack blood volume usually be? What sort of drop could they expect if they lost a liter of blood (as per **Rythmdvl’s** calculations)? What sort of clinical effects would such a drop have? Well, other than kitten death. I think a human’s PCV is in the same range or a little higher. Losing a liter is only losing about 20% of the red blood cells (I do know that a human’s total blood volume is about 5 liters). For the kitten it lost more like 80% of its red blood cells. Its gums were stark white without a hint of pink. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/34 "2011-05-18T03:40:24Z")
> [@Parenchyma](#): > > Losing a tiny drop of blood with each cut can do it. I have seen a kitten so infested with fleas that the cumulative blood loss from all those little bites dropped its packed cell volume down to 5% (from a normal of 30 to 40%). It didn’t make it. i like your nick. i used to have a kidney stone problem. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/35 "2011-05-18T04:15:47Z")
1 ml of blood loss sounds like a lot for one paper cut. In any case, even a total of 1 L would be a bit less than 20% blood loss, over a period of more than an hour, assuming 5 seconds per cut. You’d probably feel a bit woozy if you tried to stand up quickly but it certainly wouldn’t kill you. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/36 "2011-05-18T04:42:26Z")
Can we dip the paper in poison? That would certainly change the equations. Or make the thousand cuts in the exact some place – it would would be like sawing in. I suspect, though, that at some point when the blood starts flowing more freely, it would saturate the paper making it ineffective as a cutting tool. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/37 "2011-05-19T01:30:49Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Yes? And your point is what, exactly? > > Do you actually have an answer to the OP? Paper cuts. 1,000 of them. Would it kill you? If so, how? My point was that it’s not an idiom, it’s an ironic expression. And I thought the OP was motivated by the idea that it was intended literally. Apparently it was motivated by “what would happen if we took this ironic expression and actually applied it literally.” My bad. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/38 "2011-05-19T02:30:29Z")
A Horizon/Nova special on the Amazon flood plain claimed that when the mosquito eggs hatch, billions of mosquitoes descend on the local cattle populations, and some of them have died from exsanguination just from mosquito bites. But it took about a million bites, they said. Very disturbing photographs of cows covered in mosquitoes and dead cows covered in bites. Hey, I **thought** that the mosquito version of this question had been [discussed before](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=434996). Looks like I posted the same recollection there. And hey, [this much older discussion](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=24718) actually gives reference to a 1981 article in the _Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association_ about cattle dying from mosquito bites. So evidently, a large number of tiny wounds can be fatal. Now, of course, mosquitoes have anticoagulants in their saliva, which might make it easier for them to bleed you dry. On the other hand, even assuming that a paper cut only bleeds a single drop, that’s still 10-20 times the amount of blood that a mosquito takes, so you wouldn’t need nearly as many paper cuts as bites. So … perhaps a thousand paper cuts might be enough to bleed you to death, if they were heavy bleeders … probably not, but it might work. Maybe we could allow the person inflicting the cuts to keep doing the whole “Nine hundred seventy seven … nine hundred seventy eight … nine hundred ninety seven … wait, was that ninety or seventy? … doggone it, I’m starting over. One … two …” routine until you sustain enough cuts to be lethal. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/39 "2011-06-24T11:19:41Z")
FYI, Cecil’s column this week is about this topic: [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3002/did-the-chinese-really-practice-death-by-a-thousand-cuts](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3002/did-the-chinese-really-practice-death-by-a-thousand-cuts) Since this thread is only a month ago or so, I’m leaving it open. However, I’m suggesting that comments on Cecil’s column be put in the “Comments on Cecil’s Column” forum, here: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13952317#post13952317](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13952317#post13952317) ---
**Author:** ![senpai71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7993a0/32.png) [@senpai71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senpai71)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058/40 "2011-06-24T19:07:31Z")
Well you could use these: [Paper Saw Blades — BeastPieces](http://www.beastpieces.com/2010/10/paper-saw-blades/) But seriously, I’m pretty sure they can make circular saw blades of paper - as the axle spins, the paper ‘stiffens’ and can cut most anything - just one cut from one of those could do some serious damage! Looking for pictures… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts/582058.md?page=3)