Not a khukuri, but I have to share

I'm just stepping in here to catch an unfortunate oddity in Achim's post. I don't want to seem a smartass. Achim's English is clearly a lot better than my German, but once in a while a little bit of German gets in and here it just happened to be unfortunately placed to make the meaning come out exactly backwards. Achim wrote:

The form of the swiss dagger was unfortunately copied from the nazis to make their SA and SS daggers
Click to expand...

The German word von is normally translated as 'from' but when it is used to indicate the agent in a passive sentence, it ought to be translated as 'by.' In this sentence, the difference between "copied from the Nazis" and "copied by the Nazis" makes all the difference in the world. Achim didn't say something crazy, it was just a completely trivial trace of German creeping in at a particularly delicate point. If my German were as good as Achim's English, I'd be thrilled. As it is, if I were trying to participate in a forum like this in German I'd butcher the language so badly that noone would ever notice any subtle mistakes like this.


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Paul Neubauer
prn@bsu.edu
Join the NSSSA (Nationial Short-Sleeve Shirt Association) -- Support the right to bare arms!

 
That's one neat lookin' knife! The Tibetans and Mongolians have a similar knife-concept too. It's a thin, single-edged knife generally about 4 inches or so with a tubular scabbard which has extra space and openings on the front for two chopsticks.

- Sonam
 
Thank you, Paul. You are completely right.
I am always willing to learn something about the languages i am trying to speak. Normally, i have much more experience in speaking and writing french, but, malheureusement, nobody will understand me here.

And still, this is one wonderful work of knife art.

Achim
 
Yup, Mamaju, one of several variants of the "Thee", don't know the exact name for this particular type, but if you say it's a "Thee" with "Kho-chi" (chopsticks), a Tibetan should know what you're talking about.

My aunt also picked up a similar knife when she was in Mongolia. Basic design was the same, but artwork details and color on the scabbard, knife-handle and the chopsticks were distinctly Mongolian.

Interesting pieces, wish better qualities were more easily available than the junk-tourist pieces you commonly see in Boudha, Thamel, etc.

- Sonam
 
I almost bought a Thee from a Tibetan fellow when I was in Nepal in '88, I think. It was an oldie with silver wire wrapped handle, and silver sheath inlaid with coral and turquoise. It was a good one but I thought he was a little high on his price. He wanted $300 at that time and I didn't feel the rig was worth that price. Also had the chain for standard Tibetan neck carry. Somewhere in the 10,000 file I have a pix I took of it.

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Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
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