Pickaxe........WHY do people call it that??

[danielbuck]

I'm glad I don't get worked up about what people call things or how they say words. I think some of yall need some morning coffee

 

[dchawk81]

Pretty sure it's a pickaxe because it's a pick that you swing like an axe.

 

[ALinCarolina]

I own all 3, a pick, a pick/mattock, and a pick/axe. what bugs me is some people's inability to use the letters ER.
It's veteran, not vetran
It's veterinarian, not vetenarian

 

[dchawk81]

I own all 3, a pick, a pick/mattock, and a pick/axe. what bugs me is some people's inability to use the letters ER.
It's veteran, not vetran
It's veterinarian, not vetenarian

Colonel.

 

[Beerhippie]

@Beerhippie -
RE: "Hazel Hoe"
you talkin' about a McLeod? (pronouned Muh-CLOUD)

oops... I didn't scroll down far enough....

they never handed me one of those... but I was just working trails, no fire lines.

I don't recall right now what the USFS name for the Hazel hoe/mattock was. McLeod (indeed, pronounced as you say) was an odd rake/hoe combo made from sheet steel. There was also a version with removable head for smoke jumpers--whose name I also don't recall.

McLeod is a great tool for trail clearing and home garden use.

 

[dscheidt]

So, axe is a noun and a verb. The act of using a axe can be referred to as axing or getting the axe. I’ve always assumed because both a common axe and a pick are swung into an object for the purpose of cutting, a pickaxe was just a natural variation of a felling axe.

The most common version of the tool we know as an axe is the traditional lumberjack woodsman axe. But a spalling axe or hammer is not that different in shape or function from a pick.

I suspect if you went back three hundred years ago, and talked to a bunch of woodsmen, you'd get laughed at for thinking there was a tool called an 'axe', as opposed to a felling axe, limbing axe, broad axe, etc, and that a pick axe was just one of many swung tools.

 

[dchawk81]

I suspect if you went back three hundred years ago, and talked to a bunch of woodsmen, you'd get laughed at for thinking there was a tool called an 'axe', as opposed to a felling axe, limbing axe, broad axe, etc, and that a pick axe was just one of many swung tools.

And they swapped wives. Hence the term "*******."

 

[four.cycle]

'm glad I don't get worked up about what people call things or how they say words. I think some of yall need some morning coffee

Certainly there may be some who get their ******* in a bunch if you make the mistake of using the wrong term for an item.

The rest of us just want to make sure we're all speaking the same language - helps to move things along more smoothly, and generally accomplishes the task more expediently.

 

[LopezBart]

I know, I know... you were just trying to axe a question, so I dragged out the wheelborrow and loaded it up....

You got your picks, and you got your axes, and then you got these other things that people can't make up their minds about what to call them.

Dig it, man.

 

[Bodj Built]

Tuna fish. You don't say chicken bird, so why tuna fish??

 

[FigN⋅m]

Tuna fish. You don't say chicken bird, so why tuna fish??

File a complaint with the Department of Redundancy Department

 

[dchawk81]

File a complaint with the Department of Redundancy Department

The lines are too long.

 

[Bodj Built]

The lines are too long.

The lengthy lines are too long

 

[dchawk81]

The lengthy lines are too long

I asked what the hold up was because I didn't have time for this and they said it's 10:23.

 

[four.cycle]

Dig it, man.

^ I took some spelling lessons from Craigslist ads.

 

[PoorUB]

Colonel.

That word fries my brain. I know the history of the word, so I get it, but why spell it that way, why not cornel or kernal or some variation with an r in it?

 

[dchawk81]

That word fries my brain. I know the history of the word, so I get it, but why spell it that way, why not cornel or kernal or some variation with an r in it?

Wouldn't want someone to think you're talking about corn.

 

[FigN⋅m]

Wouldn't want someone to think you're talking about corn.

or anything else for that matter...

 

[tombell572]

Does anyone else refer to a mattock as a grub axe? That's what I grew up calling it thanks to my Dad. I have two that were his, one with a pick on one side and one with a vertical blade on one side, both with the usual blade 90 degrees to the handle.--both referred to as a grub axe. We're talking regional NY (Long Island.)

Tom B.

 

[Beerhippie]

Does anyone else refer to a mattock as a grub axe? That's what I grew up calling it thanks to my Dad. I have two that were his, one with a pick on one side and one with a vertical blade on one side, both with the usual blade 90 degrees to the handle.--both referred to as a grub axe. We're talking regional NY (Long Island.)

Tom B.

I've heard the term used out here.

 

[four.cycle]

^ never heard "grub axe". HAVE heard of grub hoe.

 

[dchawk81]

^ never heard "grub axe". HAVE heard of grub hoe.

Me too but not in this context.

 

[KnurledNut]

Years ago on craigslist someone listed a “radio alarm saw” for sale.

 

[whateg01]

Y'know, I could care less about any of this...

Irregardless...

 

[whateg01]

I see people call a maul a sledgehammer. Tbf, I don't really know for sure what the difference is. I just know what I was taught growing up. One had a wedge shaped end.

 

[dchawk81]

Years ago on craigslist someone listed a “radio alarm saw” for sale.

I would have made out with her.

 

[dchawk81]

I see people call a maul a sledgehammer. Tbf, I don't really know for sure what the difference is. I just know what I was taught growing up. One had a wedge shaped end.

The only maul I'm interested in is the one with a Nordstrom.

Unless it's a strip maul. Then I'm okay if it has a Frederick's of Hollywood.

 

[whateg01]

...Like when people say "Chester drawers".

Can't remember the last time I heard that, but my gf just sent me this out of the blue!

I own all 3, a pick, a pick/mattock, and a pick/axe. what bugs me is some people's inability to use the letters ER.
It's veteran, not vetran
It's veterinarian, not vetenarian

Slightly ot, I'll sometimes ask if a restaurant has a veteran discount and the employee gets a confused look on his/her face then asks, "like a military discount?"

 

[dchawk81]

Can't remember the last time I heard that, but my gf just sent me this out of the blue!



Slightly ot, I'll sometimes ask if a restaurant has a veteran discount and the employee gets a confused look on his/her face then asks, "like a military discount?"

"No, like a frequent customer discount."

 

[Lassen Forge]

So then if he's not hitting you wiht a heavy, one-side sharpened sledge hammer, how can you be mauled by a bear?

Same for dikes, I've never called it dikes, why are diag cutters called that?

Shortened from Diagonals, which is short for Diagonal Cutting Pliers, which, when you need them to release the wire cutting into your finger, time is kind of of essence. How they came to be known for rather butch women, that's for anothr time. (And why "Butch"? Why not "Spike" or "Buster"? Who decides thse things??)

 

[PWC Repair]

Same for dikes, I've never called it dikes, why are diag cutters called that?

I think that's the SAME THING!! There is no definition or origin pointing to that slang term AT ALL! Some idiot/newbie with a low IQ heard his boss yell for the "diags". Because it apparently takes way too long to say the actual words. Said idiot/newbie, not knowing what that word was, maybe asked "What do they look like?". And his boss told him. Therefore the "diags" were misheard as "dikes", and everybody else after was too narrow minded to ask WHY? Now they're just called that beCAUSE.........wait fOR IT........that's what everybody calls them..DUH!!

 

[darkzero]

Shortened from Diagonals, which is short for Diagonal Cutting Pliers

I think that's the SAME THING!! There is no definition or origin pointing to that slang term AT ALL! Some idiot/newbie with a low IQ heard his boss yell for the "diags". Because it apparently takes way too long to say the actual words.

That's what I mean, it makes no sense to me at all. How is dike short for diagonal? Is there some reasoning to this? Diags makes more sense to me & I do say diag cutters (or just cutters) never dikes.

Just like how is Bob short for Robert, **** short for Richard, Jake for John, Bill for William. Jake isn't even shorter or quicker to say than John. My name is William, everyone calls me Will, I hate Bill & if someone calls me that I don't even think to respond.

 

[whateg01]

My gf gets upset when people refer to a red breasted robin. "It's orange!!!"

 

[LopezBart]

My gf gets upset when people refer to a red breasted robin. "It's orange!!!"

The middle one is from Australia.

 

[Ggg]

I was just wondering cause I've only ever called it a "pick". When you look up the the words origin, there is NOTHING related to "axe" in the origins at all! Only pick or pic. AND....there's NO AXE BLADE on it. There IS however, a tool we commonly call a mattock. The mattock is also commonly called a pick ADZE, and has a blade on one side. This got me thinking......is it a regional thing? Or is it actually more likely an uneducated or misheard thing. And since that's how grandpa said it, that must be right..? Like when people say "Chester drawers". That aggrevates the $h!t out of me! Who is Chester and why the hell do you have his drawers?? I guess this was just my thought of the day...........discuss......

I think people are mistakenly calling some other tool a pickaxe, the name is exactly what it is describing. Another term for a pickaxe is a Firemans axe. It has an axe on one end of the head and a pick on the other.

 

[SRSemenza]

That's what I mean, it makes no sense to me at all. How is dike short for diagonal? Is there some reasoning to this? Diags makes more sense to me & I do say diag cutters (or just cutters) never dikes.

Just like how is Bob short for Robert, **** short for Richard, Jake for John, Bill for William. Jake isn't even shorter or quicker to say than John. My name is William, everyone calls me Will, I hate Bill & if someone calls me that I don't even think to respond.

That's what I mean, it makes no sense to me at all. How is dike short for diagonal? Is there some reasoning to this? Diags makes more sense to me & I do say diag cutters (or just cutters) never dikes.

Just like how is Bob short for Robert, **** short for Richard, Jake for John, Bill for William. Jake isn't even shorter or quicker to say than John. My name is William, everyone calls me Will, I hate Bill & if someone calls me that I don't even think to respond.

I think it is short for both words put together. Not short for diagonal, but short for diagonal cutter. The 'K' being in place of cutter. Yeah, it should be a 'C' but that would be dice if written. So the hard 'K' works better for cutter.


Seth

 

[four.cycle]

My gf gets upset when people refer to a red breasted robin. "It's orange!!!"

Per The Audubon Society is is an American Robin (Turdus migratorius) - a member of the Thrush family.

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

I know, I know... you were just trying to axe a question, so I dragged out the wheelbarrel and loaded it up....

You got your picks, and you got your axes, and then you got these other things that people can't make up their minds about what to call them.

Fixed that for you. (you misspelled wheel-barrel).

 

[four.cycle]

Fixed that for you. (you misspelled wheel-barrel).

yeah... they spell it THAT way too on Craigslist!

 

[Beerhippie]

Why don't maid and plaid rhyme?

Why can you spell fish as ghoti?