chicken or the egg?

R

Random Mutant

Joined
Oct 18, 2001
Messages
59
Where did the term 'butterfly knife' come from? At the shop where I bought my 42 the guy said he thought it came from the logo used by Benchmade. I thought it came before that. Didn't Pacific Cutlery use it? Did PC turn into BM? Did butterfly inspire the logo, or the other way around? :confused:
(I didn't really trust the guy at the knife shop, as their main business is sharpening and renting knives to resturaunts and supermarkets, not knowing the finer points of butterfly knife lore)
 
The only thing that I can contribute to this is that I've heard the old Hackman Folders being referred to as "butterfly style knife" in the description for sale in some old knife catalogs. Those catalogs pre-date Bali Song USA.
 
update: I was looking at Gollnick's site www.balisongcollector.comand: Bali-song Cutlery 1975-79, then Pacific Cutlery 1979-85, then Benchmade 1986-now.
So where does butterfly come from? Maybe the Muhummad[sp?]Ali quote~ "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."?:D
BTW, it's a wonderful site, thank you, Chuck.
 
I BELIEVE that when American sailors and soldiers brought them back from WWII they started calling them butterflies because (and don't quote me on this) the "resemble" a butterfly flying.
 
I've heard several varying versions similar to Mykl's (although I think I actually made it up) :) ....I also thought I made up the term "Dirty Rat" too.., but then found out is was James Cagney?

I'm gonna go the Chuck's site now..., so if Chuck says I made it up....then I did!!!!! If it says I didn't..., then I'm going back to claiming "Dirty Rat" :p

I seriously think it's one of those things that we'll here many "tales" about for decades. I have several Filipino friends, and none of them agree to any extent about the origin of anything but "Balisong".

Now if we were really mean :mad: ...we'd collectively start referring to the knife with a brand new Balisong Forum "handle".., like "Lazer-Bat-Blade" or something.., then in 50-60 years people would be asking where that name came from..., and I could claim it again!! :rolleyes: Oooops..I'd be over 100 then.., so maybe you guys will have to confirm it was me. :cool:


"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
I'm with you..

"Balisong" and "butterfly knife" are old antiquated terms that really don't show any relevence to today's faster paced world.

I'm all for "Lazer-Bat-Blade"
 
The first butterfly I ever saw was in 1970.It belonged to a High School classmate of Mine.He refered to it as "a Butterfly Knife" that His Father brought back from the Philippines while in the Army.
 
My first exposure was in the middle-late 60's, and in the Philippines all the Bantaguenos called them Balisongs of course.., but older "Vet-Type" Marines I was with called them Butterfly knives even back then.., so I have no clue :p <~~ which I think showed in my first post...lol.

And thanks "Blade"...yeah "Lazer-Bat-Blade" works for me :cool: :D ;) :p



"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
lazer-bat-blade, lol :D i like that. not as easy to say as 'balisong', though, but who cares. ;)

now, i just wanted to inform you about the real chicken & egg story, and who came first. it's actually scientifical proven that the chicken came first - it developed from some sort of lizard, i think... and then layed the first egg. (it's true, i read it in a scientist mag a while ago.) so now you know. go tell all your friends. bet with them on who came first. that way: earn your money to buy lots of lazer-bat-blades! :D
 
Alright, speculate and guess all you want, but here's where the name really came from...

Back in 1832, a french pirate named Jacque something or other was on a voyage to the phillipines where he had picked up a balisong. He continued on his journey to the Americas where he was owed a small sum of money for a wager on pig racing. His ship sank a few hundred miles off the coast of Mexico, with all his booty. But, fortunately he had his balisong in his boot at the time. He swam for days, swallowing gallons of sea water. The salt in his blood stream dried out his brain and caused insanity, as drinking large quanties of salt water often does. When he crawled on shore, all he saw where monarch butterflies. This is, of course, because monarchs winter in Mexico. He huddled by a rock on the beach, paranoid of all the eyes he saw on their wings. He held there for days, surviving only by licking the rock periodically. But, he realized that if he continued to lick the rock every day, it would eventually wear down to a small marble, and his valuable hiding place would be gone. So he got up all his of courage, and charged the monarchs with his balisong in hand. Let me tell you friends, it was a long and bloody battle. Monarchs fell by the hundreds as the sharp blade whipped through the air. After 3 days of fighting, he was certain he had killed every one of them. He lay down on the piles of butterfly corpses, weary, starving and beaten. Shortly after, a band of Mexican thieves wandered by and found his body. They stripped him down to nothing and left him to die. As they walked away, they pondered what had happened to the man, and why all the dead insects. Soon, they returned home, forgetting about the incident almost entirely. They sifted through all of Jacque's things. One man opened up the balisong and said, "Hey man, check out this knife... Kind of looks like a butterfly."
 
interesting story for sure :)
but i'd like to know what sort of information you have that you can base this upon. ;)
 
What in the world have you been smoking? That story is utterly rediculous and still fails to tell how a small band of mexican theives could start a name and have it spread all the way to the other side of the world.
 
I originally thought that butterflys used to actually wield these knives with amazing speed and ferocity!!
 
Originally posted by ixpfah
interesting story for sure :)
but i'd like to know what sort of information you have that you can base this upon. ;)
Click to expand...

Well, that is another amazing tale in and of itself. I'd rather not go through the pain of telling it, as it scarred me for life. I can still see the penguins... oh the evil penguins (shudder). Sure, they're all cute and friendly at first, but they'll kill you just as soon as look at you! In any case, you'll just have to trust me on that story. Is a little blind faith too much to ask? ;)

Originally posted by BaliLover
What in the world have you been smoking? That story is utterly rediculous and still fails to tell how a small band of mexican theives could start a name and have it spread all the way to the other side of the world.
Click to expand...

Isn't it obvious? The band of thieves now had in their possesion the most powerful knife in all of Mexico, the only of its kind. They spread terror for decades, ravaging small villages and robbing banks. The only problem was the name of their gang: "The Butterfly Bandits". They didn't get much respect with that name, despite the staggering death count. In 1894, the Mexican government got into a silly fight with Uraguay about who was the most "macho country". Mexico eradicated all "sissy-like" history from the books, including accounts of the Butterfly Bandits. But the knife in and of itself was quite terrifying, so they slipped it in almost every tale of heroism since the birth of the country. That's why every history book records Mexico as the "Land of Butterfly Knives". It's even on their flag, and in their national creed. Didn't anybody pay attention in History class?
 
I knew I should have taken a second year of history class in high school.


Remember beware the penguin.
 
...and just when I had a light at the end of tunnel for coining a new name :( I'm sticking with my new name and relying on my Samson-Lazer-Bat-Blades to dispell this irresponsible talk of "Mexican Butterfly Bandits", and rock-licking French pirates.



"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
Ok, anybody speak Tagalog? I don't, but for some reason I thought Bali-song meant butterfly in tagalog.
Ya see.... When the first Spanish conquistadors came to the Fillipines with Catholic Missionaries they encountered stiff resistance from a particularly fierce Butterfly worshipping cult. The peasant sailors first ashore were seized apon by bali-sword weilding Fillipinos. They were slaughtered. But when the Spanish aristocrats came ashore with their funny metal hats, poofy short pants, and tights, the butterfly cult members couldn't fight because they were laughing too hard at the rediculous attire of their new found foes. The missionaries went arounf baptising the cult members as the writhed with uncontrollable myrth on the ground. The butterfly cult was destroyed So that is how the Spanish colonized the Fillipines, and how Bali-song came to be. ;)
Shouldn't we be drinking from an earthenware jug while doin this?
 
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