{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "debate: is a really long sword-length but still otherwise knife-like knife valid to be considered a knife, or is it now a sword...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/167499227798/", "html": "

an-gremlin:

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forbosmargad:

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lord-kitschener:

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notabrobro:

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swordmutual:

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swordmutual:

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debate: is a really long sword-length but still otherwise knife-like knife valid to be considered a knife, or is it now a sword because it\u2019s long

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@nagunkgunk

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It\u2019s a knword and it\u2019s Valid

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I don\u2019t wanna like Kill The Joke but this brings up a really cool fact about swords in ~14th-16th century Germany! The only people who were allowed to own Real Swords were the royalty and nobility BUT! Everyone else was allowed to own knives. The definition of a knife, however, was based on not length but handle construction, and to some extent how it was sharpened. The handle had to be constructed Like So with 2 pieces of wood sandwiching the metal tang.

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Only one edge was allowed to be sharpened, but oftentimes a small part (a couple inches) of the short edge (e.g. the edge that wasn\u2019t sharp) would be sharpened, and weapon design often allowed for this

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In this way, something that looked like This, a messer of just over a meter in length\u2026

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\u2026would be legally considered a knife, and therefore allowable for non-nobility to possess. (you can also see the bit on the back of the tip that would be sharpened)

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So @swordmutual, there\u2019s a not definitive but certainly interesting historical perspective on your question

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Thank you for finally answering my years old question, \u201cwhy the hell are all these old german swords just called \u2018knife\u2019\u201d

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