Should I stick pads to the jaws of a saddler's clam?

[UKRay]

... but seriously, who took the p out of clams? I mean, it ought to be clamp in modern English, so is it an older version of the word, or just plain odd?

R.

I wonder if it has anything to do with clam shells? - just a thought...

[celticleather]

... but seriously, who took the p out of clams? I mean, it ought to be clamp in modern English, so is it an older version of the word, or just plain odd?

R.

From the purveyor of useless information:

Clams, clems and clamps are all from the same root - the Anglo-Saxon clæmman, meaning 'press'. Its first recorded use in the sense of saddlery tools was in 1399.

There's a similar word - clæmnes - which means 'torture' . . . hmmm