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CatalinaWOW

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Proof we are not mainstream

« on: August 29, 2015, 05:24:01 pm » This is a personal peeve. Almost every reader of this blog will understand the following sentence. "Don't use dikes to strip wire".Almost every reader of the blog probably has more than one pair in their toolbox, workshop or wherever the magic happens. But if you look that word up in almost any dictionary, be it the dead tree type or one of the on line ones you will not find the usage we have. You will find many words that are not acceptable in polite company. You will find obscure words like fubsy, or kringle, or pogonophobia, or antidisestablishmentarianism, but you won't find that there is a common word for a pair of diagonal cutters. I don't have access to an unabridged version of the OED, but I have heard it is there, so at least it is not totally undocumented.I have added it to Wiktionary and Wikipedia, to find it edited out later. What is it about the language of our hobby and profession that is so distasteful to the arbiters of our language? Logged

max666

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2015, 05:31:25 pm » Well, at least "my" google understands, I guess. Logged

IanB

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2015, 05:36:20 pm » Well you learn something new every day. This is the first time I have heard of dike as an abbreviation for diagonal cutter. Logged

CatalinaWOW

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #3 on: August 29, 2015, 05:36:48 pm » Googles got geeks. Check the following from WiktionaryEnglish[edit]Alternative forms[edit]dykePronunciation[edit](UK) IPA(key): /da?k/Rhymes: -a?kEtymology[edit]Middle English (Northern) dik, dike, from Old Norse díki 'ditch, dike'. More at and doublet of ditch.Noun[edit]dike ?(plural dikes)1.(Britain) Archaic spelling of all (Britain) meanings of dyke.2.A barrier of stone or earth used to hold back water and prevent flooding. ?[quotations ?] 3.(pejorative) A lesbian, especially a butch lesbian.4.(geology) A body of once molten igneous rock that was injected into older rocks in a manner that crosses bedding planes.Synonyms[edit](barrier of stone or earth): bank, embankment, dam, levee, breakwater, floodwall, seawall(long, narrow excavation): ditchAntonyms[edit]duneRelated terms[edit]ditchdig Logged

Richard Crowley

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #4 on: August 29, 2015, 05:45:02 pm » The word "dike" has been used as a nick-name for diagonal cutter for many decades. Clearly the people who edit online wiki-things are dilletents with limited knowledge of specialized word usage. Why does that come as any surprise to us?I learned how to strip wires using dikes from a telephone installer when I was a very young boy, and I have been doing it successfully for at least 5 decades.My favorite cutters are these.... Logged

rolycat

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #5 on: August 29, 2015, 05:46:15 pm » I think "dikes" is largely an Americanism.I have always called them "side cutters", although Wikipedia thinks that being British I should call them "snips". Logged

krish2487

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #6 on: August 29, 2015, 05:54:26 pm » I agree with rolycat and Ian.I grew up calling them "Flush cutters" or "lead cutters". Logged If god made us in his image,and we are this stupid then....

dexters_lab

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #7 on: August 29, 2015, 06:20:34 pm » i have always called them side cutters Logged https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdokYg51aL3FGA4-k4jCAoQhttps://twitter.com/DextersTechLab

IanB

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #8 on: August 29, 2015, 06:22:43 pm » As with me. Side cutters or wire cutters. Logged

PA0PBZ

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #9 on: August 29, 2015, 06:40:47 pm » https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagonal_pliersQuote

...JargonDiags or Dikes (a portmanteau of "Diagonal CutterS" is pronounced "dikes") – as in the phrase "a pair of dikes" or "hand me those dikes" – is jargon used especially in the electrical industry, to describe diagonal pliers. Dike can also be used as a verb, such as in the idiom "when in doubt, dike it out".In the United Kingdom and Ireland, diagonal pliers are commonly referred to as snips, and in Australia and Canada they are often referred to as side cutters.

Logged Keyboard error: Press F1 to continue.

retrolefty

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #10 on: August 29, 2015, 06:57:28 pm » Dikes is what I understood sense the 60s at least.Quote

I learned how to strip wires using dikes from a telephone installer when I was a very young boy, and I have been doing it successfully for at least 5 decades.

Yea, one can get the feel if it's solid insulated wire, it was often quicker then looking for the strippers. However trying dikes on stranded wire is very difficult without nicking/breaking some of the strands. Also never use dykes to try and strip nylon or Teflon insulated wire, the friction between wire and insulation is just too high to get a good clean strip. Logged

vlad777

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #11 on: August 29, 2015, 09:25:35 pm » Those elitists at wikipedia will edit out anything, just because you are not part of their group. Logged Mind over matter. Pain over mind. Boss over pain.-------------------------

Macbeth

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #12 on: August 29, 2015, 09:47:54 pm » "Side cutters" here. Never heard of "dikes" as a tool name. But have known a few dykes and they aren't offended by the word as they use it themselves. Lesbian is a bit of a mouthful in common parlance. (Oh, by mouthful I wasn't referring to the carpet munching ... ooer... I'll get me coat ) Logged

Macbeth

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #13 on: August 29, 2015, 09:50:43 pm » Quote from: rolycat on August 29, 2015, 05:46:15 pm

I have always called them "side cutters", although Wikipedia thinks that being British I should call them "snips".

Only my old dad calls them snips, but he is a sheet metal worker by trade and going a bit senile. Logged

Macbeth

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #14 on: August 29, 2015, 09:56:02 pm » Quote from: vlad777 on August 29, 2015, 09:25:35 pm

Those elitists at wikipedia will edit out anything, just because you are not part of their group.

Actually I remember some wanker editing out Daves bio claiming he was only a minor internet personality or something ridiculous. Got a bee in his bonnet over climate change and the solar roadways thing I think. Wiki is infiltrated with climate change religious zealots by all accounts.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_L._Jones - it's still there, looks like the loon lost Logged

retrolefty

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #15 on: August 29, 2015, 09:57:54 pm » Quote from: Macbeth on August 29, 2015, 09:47:54 pm

"Side cutters" here. Never heard of "dikes" as a tool name. But have known a few dykes and they aren't offended by the word as they use it themselves. Lesbian is a bit of a mouthful in common parlance. (Oh, by mouthful I wasn't referring to the carpet munching ... ooer... I'll get me coat )

That seems to fly in the face of 'political correctness' at least here in the U.S. where it seems that some groups are allowed to use certain 'words and names' that people outside the group should not. Dike would be a perfect example. Truly they are not offended by the word but rather who and how others use the word. « Last Edit: August 29, 2015, 09:59:35 pm by retrolefty » Logged

Deathwish

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #16 on: August 29, 2015, 10:29:45 pm » seems it is all in the spelling.www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dykedyke. A word used to refer to Lesbians. Originally meant to be a slur, it has been "reclaimed" by many Lesbians who might use it to identify themselves Logged Electrons are typically male, always looking for any hole to get into.trying to strangle someone who talks out of their rectal cavity will fail, they can still breath.God hates North Wales, he has put my home address on the blacklist of all couriers with instructions to divert all parcels.

EEVblog

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #17 on: August 29, 2015, 10:31:51 pm » Quote from: IanB on August 29, 2015, 05:36:20 pm

Well you learn something new every day. This is the first time I have heard of dike as an abbreviation for diagonal cutter.

Same here, never heard it before. Logged

Smokey

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #18 on: August 29, 2015, 10:49:52 pm » I'll stick with:4.(geology) A body of once molten igneous rock that was injected into older rocks in a manner that crosses bedding planes.http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/Yosemite-Valley-Half-Dome-Snake-Dike Logged

dr.diesel

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #19 on: August 29, 2015, 11:09:51 pm » Quote from: rolycat on August 29, 2015, 05:46:15 pm

I think "dikes" is largely an Americanism.

In my area of the States, that is pretty much the only name for them, especially in the electrical trade. Logged Beware of Siglent

hamster_nz

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #20 on: August 29, 2015, 11:15:20 pm » Almost as interesting a Coon being an Australian cheese brand. Logged Gaze not into the abyss, lest you become recognized as an abyss domain expert, and they expect you keep gazing into the damn thing.

AF6LJ

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #21 on: August 29, 2015, 11:24:47 pm » Quote from: dr.diesel on August 29, 2015, 11:09:51 pm

Quote from: rolycat on August 29, 2015, 05:46:15 pm

I think "dikes" is largely an Americanism.

In my area of the States, that is pretty much the only name for them, especially in the electrical trade.

I have heard them called "Side Cutters" as often as Dikes. Even my alternative lifestyle acquaintances don't raise an eyebrow. The disease of political correctness strikes a harsh toll. Logged Sue AF6LJ

GreyWoolfe

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #22 on: August 30, 2015, 02:11:23 am » I'm with retrolefty on the 60's thing. My dearly departed father referred to "linesman's pliers" as dikes. That's what I grew up with. Logged "Heaven has been described as the place that once you get there all the dogs you ever loved run up to greet you."

CatalinaWOW

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #23 on: August 30, 2015, 03:09:08 am » OK, I learned something too. I thought it was worldwide. Apparently the Europeans I dealt with had already been contaminated by Americanisms. Never have had the chance to talk electrical stuff with the folks on the other side of the equator. Logged

max666

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Re: Proof we are not mainstream

« Reply #24 on: August 30, 2015, 03:19:55 am » Quote from: retrolefty on August 29, 2015, 09:57:54 pm

That seems to fly in the face of 'political correctness' at least here in the U.S. where it seems that some groups are allowed to use certain 'words and names' that people outside the group should not. Dike would be a perfect example. Truly they are not offended by the word but rather who and how others use the word.

« Last Edit: October 03, 2015, 05:04:34 pm by max666 » Logged

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