Not Scandi, Nordic....

Marion David Poff

Marion David Poff

Joined
Oct 8, 1998
Messages
5,403
I was over at Knifeforums, doing the normal lurking that I do....

When I read a thread that contained a post about how Finland is not traditionally considered part of 'Scandinavia'. And how the posters wife, who is of Finnish extraction, became very adamant that calling puukkos 'Scandinavian' was incorrect.

It seems that they do not share a common language, and there are other differences as well, which make Finnish peoples not so happy when they are called Scandinavians....

I did the usual research, and found this to be confirmed by the sources polled.

It turns out that 'Nordic' accurately describes both those in Scandinavia and the Finnish.

So....

1) To call the grind and general pattern by a name which leaves out many of those who actually use the pattern, makes no sense. And that is not even considering other factors which are likewise contraindicative.

2) I hate the word 'scandi'. It's sound is not pleasing to me, I have felt this way for many years, this contraction leaves much to be desired, it's sound is 'lopped off', 'stubby', and missing the parts of the original word that are the interesting parts..... In short, I have never been at peace with this appellation.

Leading to my conclusion....

I will now and hereafter and henceforth call those knives with the short flat grind and the wide saber....

Nordic Knives.

That sounds so much better, and now that I have found out that I have the weight of history, language, and the sentiments of the fine Finnish people on my side, or maybe I am on their side.....

Anyway...

Nordic Knives.

Ah...... (said like a contented sigh)
 
This thread makes me make the same noise that this guys makes.:D
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I love to see what people think of this, as to me, I like scandi.
 
Scandi, Nordic, single bevel, sharp as all get out....who cares?:confused:

I can see what you are saying, but the fact that you are not a Finn (or atleast I am assuming that you arent, by the way the first post was written) smells of some strange personal Politically Correct language correction group...which is far to prevolent in our country as it is...if we here in America call a grind on a knife "Scandinavian" and a Finn in Finland gets insulted...well, thats just the way it is I guess. You cant please all the people all the time..or atleast thats what I think.

Nice try on being the guy who renames a grind....I dont know..maybe it will work out for you, and knifenuts will speak your name at knifeshows and blade for years to come...annals of history and all that. I will remember being here, and saying....
BULLPUCKY
 
Hey,if all it takes to relieve a little tension with a person or peoples is to call something by a different name,and it doesn't hurt anybody else,I will try to call it by a different name.
 
I think all decent is arbitrary.

If evolution is correct - I suppose you could call this grind 'the intelligent chimpanzee' grind.

If creationism is correct - is the Adam grind, Abrahm grind, or perhaps the Noah grind.

I think rest is simply arguing over semantics. I do understand trying to be correct in your word usage - but somethings are just silly.

By the way - every grind that Magnussen does is to be called the 'unintelligent poo flinging ape' grind from now on. That is the most accurate.

TF
 
In all my life I've heard stories about Finns and the fact that they tend to be very strange !
But what's in a name ? There are guns in Finland that go by a certain name.But they are varied types and makes of guns .The guns were sent from America to Finland when the Finns were fighting the Russians .The name ? It's the name of the ship that carried them to Finland !!!
But PC is everywhere .Laplanders become Saami .Orientals become Asians etc .The younger generation is taught to spend lots of time and effort looking for ways to be insulted.And it doesn't matter what your intent is. But I'll continue to use the NON-PC terms as I refuse to bend to the PC Gods. To be PC is to be stupid as it gives up your rights of freedom of speech and thought !
 
Scandi and Scandinavian is just fine. Sure, Finns and the Finnish language are Finno-Ugric rather than North Germanic / Scandinavian like Swedes and Norwegians and their languages, but geographically the countries and their populations are so close the distinctions are rather academic, really. Technically, Finland isn't part of Scandinavia since Finland isn't part of the Scandinavian Peninsula and the Finns aren't genetically Scandinavians as are Swedes, Danes and Norwegians. In practice, I don't see any problem in calling Finns Scandinavians. "Nordic" sounds a bit unclear. Does it refer to just north? Does that include Canada? ;) Everyone knows what Scandinavia refers to, though. If some Finn is offended by being called Scandinavian, he ought to drink more and stop being so damn uptight. :D

Me, I'll keep calling Finns and Finnish culture Scandinavian. It looks Scandinavian enough to me, and I'm Finnish. :p
 
Well yeah, Finland isnt a part of Scandinavia, but we are one of the five Nordic countries. Linguistically our closest neighbour is Estonia, which on the other hand is neither.

But, Ive never heard that a Finn actually would be insulted by the term "Scandinavian"... its such a common mistake that I think even some Finns would do it.

Anyway, there is a huge difference between puukkos, lappi-style knives, leukus and nordic knives in general. For example, those full-tang bushcrafters that are so popular nowadays are definately not puukkos, or even nordic knives, even though they do have a similar shape of blade, and a scand.. I mean nordic grind :D
 
Well alrighty then...
From this moment forward,all of my knives that I formerly called "scandis" will be referred to as 'NORDEES". Should satify everyone that way.
I wouldn't want to call a knife the wrong thing...ever. That would be awfull!!!
I am at peace now:rolleyes:.

Cliff
 
This is too much for me, so I'm going out to play some cowpersons and nativeamericans.
 
Oh damn, Ive always hated overkill PC :barf:

As a native Finn, I hereby grant everyone at BF an official licence to call Finns whatever you like (stick to the forum rules though). You can even refer to our skin colour (white as a sheet in winter, bright sun burnt red in summer) :D
 
Ok, i just gotta chime in on this.
I believe the term "scandi" comes from the fact that it is the style of grind, usually found on knives in the scandinavian/nordic region. Yes, the Finnish use it on their puukko aswell, and Finland is not part of scandinavia. But all of the nordic countries are so close in proximity, that it is really... Well.. Pointless to try to separate them.
As for knives, i believe the trend started in scandinavia, (Norway or Sweden) and then got traded to Finland. That is, Finland got it through trade, and were infact not part in the original designing of the style.
But if you want to be completely retentive... Convex isn`t convex either, it is either a Moran grind, or appleseed grind. It is convex by nature, not by name.

Or we can just be happy, and call a knife a knife. Sharpsies!! *drools*
 
It's a British name, adopted here, for a saber/flat single-bevel grind hardly ever used in the Scandinavian (or Nordic, if you will) area except on request. To be clear, almost all knives made in that area are either convexed, concave, come with a secondary bevel, a diamond cross-section, or a combination of these features.

If you're writing fiction, you can name your characters anything you want. "Fred" would be an example. :D

A myth, once established, has great power.

The term "Scandi" applied to a grind, like "convex," has come to have a certain meaning understood by many of those who use it.
 
Scandi edge is of course just a term used in English, and those who want to, can understand that it means a certain kind of edge.
If we here in Norway talks about it, I guess we would simply call
it a : Vanlig tolleknivegg.
That is the term that SHOULD:D;) be used world wide, but I guess Scandi edge has become the standard term, and it seems to work for most people, exept for someones Finnish wife.
timann
 
Hey its all academic - my scandi grind knife was renamed by others a sabre grind :D :D
 
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