Why are pry bars often called "crow bars"?

[rust in the eye]

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[ER70S-2]

Google is your friend here.

 

[four.cycle]

from the 1969 American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: *

crow bar n A straight bar of iron or steel, with the working end shaped liked a forked chisel, used as a lever. [From the resemblance of the forked end to a crow's foot.]

as far as etymology, I'd posit that's probably as accurate as you're going to get.

 

[four.cycle]

It may be worth noting (again) that what is commonly referred to as a "crow bar" is actually a "goose-necked wrecking bar"

 

[NoahG]

I’m out here getting funny looks cause I still call flat pry bars “wonder bars”.

 

[RTM]

Inquiring minds want to know.

Search that topic here with Lugz in your search . He did a very precise definition of how the terms , and how we the general public have bastardized them into incorrect meanings.

Addicted to Rust. How to tell vintage USA crow bars?

If a crow bar has no branding on it, is there any way to tell if it is an older or usa product? Please see pics. This is a 22 inch bar, currently not in my possession....but might be soon : ) depending on comments. No branding is visible but could have lettering under the rust, as I...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[mikey03]

Google is your friend here.

You just guaranteed this thread will now be the first hit on google. Anytime I google something weird it takes me to a forum post of someone asking the question and the response is to google it.

 

[lolaetype]

I’m out here getting funny looks cause I still call flat pry bars “wonder bars”.

Probably because in Motor City a Wonderbar is a GM car radio.

What Is A Wonderbar Radio?

An Introduction To The Wonder Bar RadioFirst introduced in the late 1940s by the Delco division of the General Motors (GM) company, the Wonder Barradio was one of the earliest car radios capable of…

vintagecarradios.wordpress.com

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

This is what I remember as a kid as a crow bar.

This was a goose neck.

When I was a kid not in school yet my Grandpa sent me for a goose neck. Thought to myself WTH is he going to do with that. We had slaughtered some geese previously and went looking until I found one that the dog hadn’t mauled too badly. He had a good laugh and I now knew what a goose neck looked like.

 

[micromind]

If a wrecking bar is used to wreck things, what if it were used to simply pry something into place? Would it just blow up or something??

 

[The Cobbler]

This is a crow bar to me


this is a pry bar

 

[landrover bodger]

here in england they are all known as crowbars. pry bars are the ones with handles like a screwdriver.

 

[NoahG]

this is a pry bar

There’s my wonder bar !

 

[jar944]

My local nomenclature

Bar


Bar


Flat bar

Cats paw


Beekeeper bar


Johnson bar

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

I’ve always thought as a crow bar as what’s listed above called the goose neck wrecking bar. A pry bar to me has a handle on one end and a prying end on the other.

 

[Basskiller]

Google is your friend here.

Well clutch my pearls that someone asks a question on a discussion forum

 

[Beerhippie]

To me, this:



is a bar.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

To me, this:



is a bar.

I always thought rank was always spelt r a n k. What kind of bar is that anyway, a stinky one?

 

[neophyte]

Allegedly “Crow Bar” cones from the way the end is bent and the iron tips splayed, like a “Crow’s foot or beak”, with the oldest term being just “crow” or “iron crow”.
The oldest known use of the term apparently gies back to 1400AD, and Shakespeare even used “iron crow” in “Romeo and Juliet”.
I would presume “bar” got added to make the term less confusing, since “crow” can be used for everything from the bird, to less politically correct uses.

“Flat bar” is usually the generic term used for pry bars made from flat steel spring bar, such as the Stanley “Wonder Bar”, or Vaughan “Super Bar”, or Estwing “Handy Bar”.
There are plenty of other variations with various names, which seem to be a bit more standardized.

 

[Ascinder]

Haven't you ever used one to open a crate or pull apart a pallet? It makes a cawing sound.

 

[Beerhippie]

I always thought rank was always spelt r a n k. What kind of bar is that anyway, a stinky one?

Back in the good ol' days, it was. An inch or two of tobacco smoke deposits on the black popcorn-texture ceiling and mostly real cowboys smelling of real cowshit at the bar.

Nowadays, it's bit gentrified.

The old neon tube sign out front was pretty well busted when the current owner bought the place. Amazingly, a group of friends got together, started a GFM drive and raised the money to have it restored!

Not only is it the oldest surviving bar in Enterprise, OR, it's the only surviving bar in Enterprise, OR. Back when, we had five bars in town.

Those were the days....

 

[YesIHaveAHammer]

[From the resemblance of the forked end to a crow's foot.]

A tool named after something from nature - plenty of those around, or at least in brand model names.

I'd be interested in hearing of any tools whose design is replicated or based on something from nature - "biomimicry".

 

[Lassen Forge]

This is what I remember as a kid as a crow bar.

When I worked on a road crew (does that mkae me a roads scholar??) for the Dept of Transportation, we had a number of different long, heavy steel bar tools - The one above is a "digging bar", the one with the chisel on one side and a flat (that you can slam with a "monday" (12# sledge) or "4 pounder" on the other (used to break up concrete or old asphalt, or separte stuff) is a "breaker bar", and the one with a tapered end on one or both sides used to align guardrail holes is called a Bullprick (no joke) - it's about the size of it (eg bull) and, well, never mind...

 

[KnurledNut]

This is what I call them:

Slate bar.


Spud bar.


Burke bar.


Ripping bar.


Wrecking bar.


Flat bar, super bar, wonder bar.


Crow bar.


Ladies foot, rolling head.


Connecting bar, alignment bar.


Pry bar.

 

[rust in the eye]

A google search of "crowbar" here near Chicago hits a bar named "The Crowbar", notorious for things aside drinking.

 

[mngundog]

Prybar:




Crowbar:

 

[KnurledNut]

Prybar:

I am sorry sir, that's a chisel.

 

[four.cycle]

This is what I remember as a kid as a crow bar.

Correct. If you look at early hardware catalog advertisements, THAT is the device that is referred to as a "crow bar".

This is a crow bar to me

"Goose Neck Wrecking Bar" really IS the correct nomenclature for that unit.

This is what I call them:

Also correct.

The multitude of different styles and shapes of iron and steel bars manufactured for the purpose of poking, prying, or demolishing stuff I think has caused some degree of confusion among most of the public, who are not invested enough to memorize all those different terms.
Ergo: any steel bar with a fork became a "crow bar", and any small steel bar with a hooked end or a splayed end became a "wonder bar" or a "cats paw".
As an interesting aside, three hours ago I was looking at labels in an "antique mall" and found several different pieces all marked "cats paws" or "wonder bars".
There is, as noted above by @RTM, another thread here with a detailed breakdown of different types of "bars".
I try not to lose too much sleep over this one.

Example of various "bars" posted HERE

 

[mngundog]

Correct. If you look at early hardware catalog advertisements, THAT is the device that is referred to as a "crow bar".

Incorrect.... first known use dates back to the 1400 or 1500's and then they were simple called "crows", it's debated whether it got its name because of the curve of the crow's beak or feet. That pry bar pictures doesn't have a curve, and a hardware store catalog dated hundreds of years later doesn't change that.

 

[four.cycle]

dates back to the 1400 or 1500's

The English language has always been in a continual state of flux, which is one of its best characteristics.
Words and word meanings from several centuries past may or may not still have the same definitions.
Respectfully, I'll defer to the lexicographers.

 

[Kasal]

In Spain, it is called, goat's foot.

 

[Lassen Forge]

And yet nothing about that after work institution that kept a LOT of us bue colllar people going after dealing with our **** bosses....

The Dive Bar.




If ya know, I 'll owe you a PBR and Canadian Mist Boiler Maker.... I'll even make it a double, but you still have a ways to catch up to me,,,

 

[lardy1]

This reminds me of my dad and a lot of his buddies calling Channellocks or groove joint pliers "dogs." For some reason, as a kid growing up, I found that amusing.