[en] The abundant experimental information on low- and high-energy M1 excitations in ^46,48Ti, obtained recently through (e, e'), (p, p') and (γ, γ') experiments, is well described within a quasiparticle RPA approach, based on a deformed Woods-Saxon potential plus spin-spin and quadrupole-quadrupole interactions. It includes a procedure which restores the rotational invariance of the hamiltonian. The low-lying strong M1 states overlap up to 36% with the scissors state of the two rotor model. These states, as well as some medium-energy 1⁺ excitations, represent a weakly collective scissors motion, more pronounced in ⁴⁶Ti than in ⁴⁸Ti. The titanium isotopes offer a better approximation to the scissors state than do the heavy nuclei because in lighter nuclei the scissors state is less collective. (orig.)