Talk:Marlinspike

Latest comment: 1 month ago by Marjan Tomki SI in topic Marlin or marline (for the twine)

Requested move

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The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the debate was Move. —Wknight94 (talk) 01:56, 27 July 2006 (UTC)Reply

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The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Untitled

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The marlin spike is also used by loggers to splice wire rope, (steel cable).207.109.248.122 20:37, 20 January 2007 (UTC)Reply

Use as weapon?

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Sailors were often known to use Marlin Spikes as weapons, especially in the age of fighting sail. They would be quite capable if used on a skull or rib cage. V. Joe 21:45, 1 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

Marlin or marline (for the twine)

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In the section about etymology about marlinspike: I found both words (marlin and marline) in sources; suppose marlin is US and marline British, and both correct.

Maritime Museum of British Columbia also uses two words to name the item: marlin spike. Etymology of marlin is (for the moment reasonably) covered in wiktionary entry mentioned in the article.

Spike is also covered in wiktionary, but I think both articles there could be improved.

  • meanings seem listed in wictionary (at least sometimes) in random order, or - in professionally edited dictionaries - most often used order. Neither is usually chronological, which is unfriendly to easily seeing evolution of words and meanings. If we could find a better way data would be much easier to understand, and more useful.
  • word spike (meaning characteristic shape) surely predated synthetic plastics and probably steel too (I recall museum articles of wood and bone mostly), meanings that are usually listed first. Word for that shape was possibly (probably) initially used about pointed parts of plants and the like with animals (might also be linguistically related to spines), and next for those natural shapes used for tools even before those tools were intentionally created and shaped. But that is for discussion out of Wikipedia articles... Marjan Tomki SI (talk) 15:02, 8 August 2024 (UTC)Reply