Fw: Wordsmith (4/04/2025): A.Word.A.Day -- Swiss Army Knife
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?The world's toughest language game.
Apr 4, 2025
This week’s theme
Tools and devices that became metaphors
This week’s words
If you want to carry a Swiss Army knife, why not go all in with “The
Giant”? It boasts 87 tools, 141 functions, 1 Guinness world record
as the world’s most multifunctional penknife, and approximately 0 pockets
it can fit into.
Photo: Wenger
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg
Swiss Army knife
PRONUNCIATION:
(swis AHR-mee nyf)
MEANING:
noun:
1. A pocketknife, with multiple blades and other tools such as scissors, saw, corkscrew, can opener, etc.
2. A person or object with many diverse skills or functions.
ETYMOLOGY:
From its use by Swiss Army officers. Originally produced by Karl Elsener
in Switzerland in 1891. Earliest documented use: 1935.
USAGE:
“Phosphorus is a chemical Swiss Army knife. It is essential for life,
a component of cells and bones, the prime part of a matchstick, an
agricultural fertilizer, an ingredient in some insecticides, and
emanates an eerie glow.”
Tony Miksanek; White Light: The Elemental Role of Phosphorus; The
Booklist (Chicago, Illinois); Mar 1, 2025.
“Environmental health professionals are the Swiss Army knives of the
scientific community with knowledge of numerous scientific disciplines,
along with evaluation, management, problem-solving, collaboration,
communication, and conflict-resolution skills practiced from the
laboratory to the community.”
Note of Thanks to Departing Board Members; Journal of Environmental
Health (Denver, Colorado); Sep 2024.
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you. -Maya
Angelou, poet (4 Apr 1928-2014)
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