31 Dec
2001
31 Dec
'01
4:41 p.m.
On Tue, 1 Jan 2002, Chris wrote:
Chris, I suggest that you do not have all of the relevant facts. The
wrench carries that name because Crescent Tools were the original
developer and manufacturer of it. That the name is used generically for
all adjustable wrenches of that design is a tribute to its popularity
and usefulness. Much the same as we speak of `xeroxing' copies.
Centronics did not invent the Blue Ribbon connector. Amphenol did.
Centronics merely found a useful application that became the standard
parallel connector on printers (and on early computers - pre IBM). Not
quite the same accomplishment.
- don
If WE use the
wrong term
amongst ourselves, we'll certainly never show others that there's benefit in
calling it a crescent wrench when, to some folks, "the silver-colored
thingie," would do.
But, given the arguments that have been going on, you shouldn't call it a
Crescent wrench either. That is the name of the manufacturer of a
particular kind of wrench, and although generally accepted as meaning an
"adjustable wrench" is not any more technically correct than the
"Centronics" connector's name. If you ask some mechanics for a crescent wrench, you
might get locking
pliers... ones that are commonly called a "Vise Grip", which is ALSO
technically incorrect for the same reason Crescent is wrong.
But then, for the question of the century... if you strictly adhere to
calling an item by its name, and NOT by the commonly used term, which in
many cases is the manufacturer's or common usage name... what should you
call a Yo-Yo? (just seeing how many people know the answer to this one)
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>