cosh / blackjack / sap
Sep. 15th, 2023 07:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordcosh (KOSH) or blackjack (BLAK-jak) or sap (SAP) - n., a short leather-covered weapon with a heavy head on a flexible strap or springy shaft for a handle.
The idea being that blow to the head with one renders the victim unconscious with diminished risk of lasting trauma -- not true, but that was the claim -- plus the small size makes it easier to conceal. Multiple names for the same thing. All three first appear in English in the late 19th century, and all three have obscure etymologies, especially for the second two terms, which have many other senses, but the first seems to derive from Romani kašt/košter, stick/timber, from Proto-Indic *kṣṭa-, from PIE *sker-, to cut.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
And that's it for a week of clubs -- back next week with the usual less-violent mix.
---L.
The idea being that blow to the head with one renders the victim unconscious with diminished risk of lasting trauma -- not true, but that was the claim -- plus the small size makes it easier to conceal. Multiple names for the same thing. All three first appear in English in the late 19th century, and all three have obscure etymologies, especially for the second two terms, which have many other senses, but the first seems to derive from Romani kašt/košter, stick/timber, from Proto-Indic *kṣṭa-, from PIE *sker-, to cut.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
And that's it for a week of clubs -- back next week with the usual less-violent mix.
---L.
