After reading Cassy's lesson about getting haircuts yesterday, I just had to add the one sentence I use every single time I get a haircut in Japan:

すきばさみ使わないでください。
すきばさみ　つかわないで　ください。
Please don't use thinning scissors.
Literally: "thinning scissors + don't use + please."

These are すきばさみ：

And the first time I ever got a haircut in Japan, the hairdresser went to town with them.

For some reason, Japanese people love to thin out their hair, which tends be quite thick. So when you see some fancy businessman with a light, thin, puff of hair atop his head--yeah, chances are he's using the evil thinning scissors.

I'm not a fan. So I use the above sentence every hairdresser visit. And if I forget, I'm reminded the second they pull out these wretched scissors, which seems to be an inevitability.

OK, I'm getting distracted.

The point I want to make in this lesson is that the regular word for scissors is はさみ, but the は becomes a ば when it's attached to another word:

は　→　ば
はさみ　→　すきばさみ
scissors　→　thinning scissors

This happens with other types of scissors, too. Like "kitchen scissors:"

キッチンばさみどこ？
キッチンばさみ　どこ？
Where are the kitchen scissors?
Literally: "kitchen scissors + where?"

I know that there is a fancy linguistic term for this morphing of sounds in Japanese, but I don't particularly feel like scouring the internet to find it. ^_^

You should just get a feel for this sort of thing. To help, I've included a smattering of examples below, most of which look at the changes from "h" sounds to "b" or "p" sounds in combo words...

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は　→　ば
箱　→　ゴミ箱
はこ　→　ゴミばこ
box　→　trash can [box]

ゴミはちゃんとゴミ箱に捨ててよ。
ゴミ　は　ちゃんと　ゴミばこ　に　すてて　よ。
(Be sure to) Put your trash in the trash can!
Literally: "trash + は + properly + trash can + に + throw away + よ！"
Note: That "Be sure to" in parentheses is my feeble attempt to add the nuance of ちゃんと, "properly," without losing the angry tone of 捨ててよ！ Given more time, surely I could come up with a better translation. Or maybe you could...

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は　→　ば
腹　→　三段腹
はら　→　さんだんばら
belly　→　belly rolls

夏までにこの三段腹どうにかしなきゃ...
なつ　まで　に　この　さんだんばら　どうにか　しなきゃ...
I've gotta do something about my stomach rolls before summer.
Literally: "summer + by/until [=までに] + this + stomach rolls + someway or another + have to do."
Note: So 三段 means "three steps; three layers." Then 腹 (はら, which becomes ばら) is "belly; stomach."

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は　→　ば／ぱ
腹　→　ビール腹／ビールっ腹
はら　→　ビールばら／ビールっばら
belly　→　beer belly

見事なビールっ腹だね！
みごと　な　ビールっぱら　だね！
That's quite a beer belly! // That's one hell of a beer belly! // That's one amazing beer belly!
Literally: "splendid; admirable + beer belly + だね！"
Note: According to the Internet, it appears that many people say ビール腹 (ビールばら), but Rei and her friends have always said ビールっ腹 (ビールっぱら).

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ふ　→　ぶ
布団　→　敷き布団
ふとん　→　しきぶとん
comforter　→　(Japanese) mattress

I say "comforter" for 布団 above, as just saying 布団 (ふとん) tends to refer to a 掛け布団 (かけぶとん), which is a "comforter."

In other words, it's a big puffy blanket you sleep under.

But the thin mattress you sleep on top of is a 敷き布団 (しきぶとん). Like this one:

Note that the verb 敷く (しく) means "to spread out; to lay out," so this word makes lots of sense. Also note how the ふ sound (which is somewhere between an "f" and an "h" sound, depending on what part of Japan you're from) is becoming ぶ, a "b" sound.

敷き布団敷いてくれる？
しきぶとん　しいて　くれる？
Will you lay out the mattress(es) for me?
Literally: "(Japanese) mattress + lay out + give (me)?"

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Just to be clear, this morphing is not limited to "h" sounds.

For instance...

く　→　ぐ
靴　→　運動靴
くつ　→　うんどうぐつ
shoes　→　tennis shoes

I was torn about how to translate 運動靴. My dictionary almost tricked me into putting "sports shoes" or "sneakers," but I think the word I used for these growing up was "tennis shoes." Anyways, hopefully you get the idea. Oh and the direct translation is "exercise shoes."

運動靴貸して。
うんどうぐつ　かして。
Could you lend me your tennis shoes?
Literally: "tennis shoes + lend."

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つ　→　づ
机　→　勉強机
つくえ　→　べんきょうづくえ
desk　→　writing desk

Well, technically it's a "study desk," but I think we call this a "writing desk" in English. Or if you're like me, you just call it a "desk."

息子に勉強机を作ってあげた。
むすこ　に　べんきょうづくえ　を　つくって　あげた。
I built a writing desk for my son.
Literally: "son + に + writing desk + を + make + gave (him)."

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You made it to the end! Props to you!