The phrase ξιπομάκαιραν is a notorious crux in this passage. While the literal meaning would be 'cutting off the foot of the woman,' the word ξιπομάκαιρα does not exist in the standard lexicon. The scholia suggest it is a nonsense word or a corruption, but the most widely accepted conjecture, proposed by scholars such as Hermann and supported by the context of the play's parody of tragic rhetoric, is that it is a deliberate, absurd coinage by Aristophanes to mock the pretensions of tragic diction, possibly parodying a specific tragic phrase or simply serving as a nonsensical epithet for 'shoe-woman' (from ξύλον + πόδι + μακαίρ). The manuscript tradition is unanimous in preserving this form, making it a unique instance of intentional lexical invention rather than a simple scribal error, and it stands as a key example of Aristophanic comic distortion of tragic language.