Why is it a 'head' knife?

[TonyRV2]

This comes from the files of "things I learned while looking up other things".  I've always been fascinated with the origin of words and phrases, especially commonly used words that aren't usually given much thought....we just say them.  Cobweb for instance, peaked my curiosity while I was staring at...you guessed it...a cobweb.  Where did the 'cob' part come from I wondered.  Turns out that its from a middle English word for spider.."coppe".  The Merriam Webster article that I was reading then went on to explain that the word 'cob', which refers to corn, comes from an entirely different middle English word, 'cobbe', meaning 'head'.  This word was used to describe anything with a round shape, such as a corn cob.  So it seems then that we have the origin for the name of the tool that we're all familiar with, the 'head knife'.  Oh....and I did finally knock down that cobweb, literally, and figuratively.  ;-)

[fredk]

Not shure about that. I learnt it was because it was shaped like a bird's head. Now the half-moon shape doesn't look much like a bird's head, but if you look at the original leatherworkers' knives of the Roman to Medieval period they do look like a bird's head. On these the cutting blade is just over a quarter circle and on the opposite side is an awl tang; this makes them look like they have a beak and a comb.

[zuludog]

fredk is correct. The semi circular leatherworking knife is known as a round knife, and is symmetrical. A head knife is asymmetrical, having a rounded, slightly bulbous profile on one side, and the other side elongated and tapering to a point, thus having a resemblance to a dead, especially a bird's head

Confusion arises because the phrase 'head knife' became so common & synonymous with a leatherworking knife that it is also used erroneously for a round knife

The origins of the word 'cobbler' for someone who makes or repairs shoes doesn't seem to be very well known or established, but it gives us the phrase for describing something that has been hastily prepared or assembled from whatever materials & components are readily available - 'to be cobbled together'

It also gives us the British rhyming slang 'Cobblers!' meaning to speak rubbish or nonsense. In rhyming slang you use a familiar phrase or word pairing, but only say the first word. thus -

Cobblers = cobbler's awls = balls

Bread = bread & honey = money

Raspberry = raspberry tart = fart

Apples = apples & pears = stairs

and so on

Edited June 3, 2017 by zuludog

[zuludog]

We all know what a round knife looks like

For a head knife Search for 'Barnsley Single Head Knife' from Abbey England.com

[fredk]

Also I learnt that a cobweb was made by a male spider. The male spider being a cob, the female is a hen. Ancients* thought only the hens could spin the perfect web and that the males could not, thus the messy type of web, typically used in the old horror movies is a cob-web

* Ancients as in the ancient Greeks who believed that the shepherd's daughter Arachne was turned into a spider to spend her days never-ending spinning near perfect webs

[LumpenDoodle2]

12 hours ago, fredk said:

Also I learnt that a cobweb was made by a male spider. The male spider being a cob, the female is a hen. Ancients* thought only the hens could spin the perfect web and that the males could not, thus the messy type of web, typically used in the old horror movies is a cob-web

* Ancients as in the ancient Greeks who believed that the shepherd's daughter Arachne was turned into a spider to spend her days never-ending spinning near perfect webs

Main lesson to learn, don't annoy the gods.    

Surpringly, if memory serves me well, Pliny the elder makes more mention of Arachne's tale than Greek writings. (Got a soft spot for Pliny's writings).