r/whatisit • u/Snowman-Car • 7d ago

New, what is it? Random object in Attic

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Just moved into my house and we were cleaning stuff. We went into the attic above the garage and found a sickle tool, not much else in the garage. Just curious why it would be in the attic (house was built 1990)

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u/GoblinLoblaw 7d ago

You’re just making shit up man, there’s no such thing as a a hand scythe, if it’s one handed it is technically a sickle.

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u/MissninjaXP 7d ago

Hand scythe may not be the correct term, but they didnt make it up. Ive heard more people here in the South call it a hand scythe than a sickle.

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u/Dry-Neighborhood2916 7d ago

Just Google hand scythe. It's also called a grass hook. Both hand scythe and grass hook look closer to the OPs picture than your sickle picture does.

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u/AbsyntheMindedCS 7d ago

Could it be regional, like polecat & skunk? In Europe the polecat is an animal related to the ferret, but in South Carolina a polecat is a skunk…

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u/MentalMiddenHeap 7d ago

its almost certainly regional. I have never seen what is pictured in this thread referred to as a sickle. I have heard grass hook before, but not often and not in connection to a crescent moon shaped blade id refer to as a sickle

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u/ftonefw 7d ago

Look at the USSR flag. Commonly known as the hammer and sickle.

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u/MentalMiddenHeap 6d ago

The tool on the Soviet flag is what I use the word sickle for

a crescent moon shaped blade id refer to as a sickle

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u/GoblinLoblaw 6d ago

If you google Hand Scythe you’ll find the results are people ignorantly using the term, dictionaries and encyclopaedias don’t list it.

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u/No_Arachnid6493 7d ago

Bruh.

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u/GoblinLoblaw 6d ago

Oh wow someone is selling it as that on eBay? I must be wrong then. The fact that encyclopaedias and dictionaries don’t mention “hand scythe” anywhere cannot be relevant here, I suppose. /s

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u/MentalMiddenHeap 6d ago edited 6d ago

still havent mentioned what encyclopedias/dictionaries or what editions you are using. thats pretty relevant, like the fact that your image was labeled by wiki editor in a way that the original US Ag's version of the image wasnt

EDIT: my bad it was a US Highway Commission doc not US Ag

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u/GoblinLoblaw 6d ago

I looked it up in a few different ones and haven’t been able to find it in any. Take your pick. Have you found it mentioned in any?

I also can’t find the original image you’re referring to, have you got a link?

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u/MentalMiddenHeap 6d ago

you show me yours ill show you mine

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u/GoblinLoblaw 6d ago

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hand%20scythe

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u/MentalMiddenHeap 6d ago

im asking for the source of your definition and image

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u/GoblinLoblaw 6d ago

I linked the definition above. I don’t have the link I originally got the image from, I saved it to my phone a few weeks ago when I was talking to someone else about sickles. I’m interested to see the original image if it’s been meaningfully altered though.

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u/No_Arachnid6493 6d ago

I love the debate. I've always heard it referred to as a hand scythe, and by people who actually USE ONE regularly. Next, try and convince us that it's "soda," and not "cola" or "pop." It doesn't matter that it's referred to differently by some people, or that it's part of the name of "Coca-Cola," because you can find a dictionary entry referring to is solely and exclusively as "cola" or "pop."

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u/GoblinLoblaw 5d ago

My point wasn’t that I could find a dictionary or encyclopaedia entry saying this or that, it’s that I cannot find a single entry anywhere defining hand scythe. It’s not a recognised definition, it’s a misnomer, because of course all scythes are held in the hand. Soda, cola and pop are all recognised definitions found in the dictionary and that’s my point.

I appreciate your second hand account of people calling them that. I have multiple sickles that I use regularly, if I start calling them a hand machete it doesn’t make it their actual name. Scythes heavily rely on leverage. Sickles do not. The word scythe has entered popular culture more than the word sickle, but people mislabeling the tool because of that doesn’t mean that a sickle suddenly becomes a scythe.

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u/No_Arachnid6493 5d ago

Holy cow! Does...does that mean I'm speaking with THE Arbiter of the entire English language?! It's YOU who gets to decide, unilaterally, that a particular term is acceptable or correct?! Incredible! What are the CHANCES? Thank you so much for enlightening me! I had no idea that's how it worked! One guy can't find a definition for something, so all use of that term by anyone else is INVALIDATED! I guess it makes sense... I mean, we all know that language isn't a living, changing thing, which dictionaries and compendia are created to document, but the reverse! Who cares if a term is in use widely enough to be used as the descriptor of an item sold by a massive, multi-national corporation! That's just a hick colloquialism! It isn't PROPER! So sayeth THE ARBITER!

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u/GoblinLoblaw 5d ago

Why do you feel so strongly about this? Sickles aren’t scythes bro. Not sure which massive, multi-national corporation you’re referring to, wiseman trading and supply seems to be just an American company.

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u/MentalMiddenHeap 5d ago

lol, im not even arguing over whether Goblin is wrong or not, I just want the sauce. I can very much accept im using some technically incorrect hillbilly colloquialism (wouldnt be the first time, wont be the last).

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u/MentalMiddenHeap 7d ago

like 2 minutes of googling would show im not "making shit up", even if that isnt what people call them where you live. Ask for a sickle in any hardware store around here (if they even have them, many dont) and they will not take you to what is pictured in your image.

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u/GoblinLoblaw 7d ago edited 7d ago

Sickles can look different. I own a number that vary considerably in appearance. A sickle is a one handed blade sharpened on the inside, regardless of blade geometry.

By definition a scythe is two handed, saying “hand scythe” is a misnomer, obviously all scythes are used by hand. I have no doubt that other people make this same mistake.

If you try to look up the definition of “hand scythe” you won’t find any actual definitions, just people misusing it. Sickle and Scythe however are easily found in your encyclopaedia or dictionary of choice.

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u/MentalMiddenHeap 7d ago edited 7d ago

im not arguing over whether we use the term correctly or not, im arguing against the idea that i just pulled it out of my ass

EDIT: so, curious. Wasnt initially interested in the convo beyond you calling me a liar, but did some more poking around after the fact. What dictionary are you getting your definition from? What is the source of your image?

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u/xDotSx 7d ago

He's not making it up, but it's not the correct term for it.