Which came first: the chicken or the balisong?

[Stiletto Raggio]

Okay, I am new to this particular forum, so excuse me if this is "common knowledge".

Did the Benchmade butterfly insignia give Balis their pop-culture nickname, or did Benchmade adopt this insignia to associate themselves with the existing name?

 

[Gollnick]

I'm sure that Armond or Sniperboy, both of whom have a deeper knowledge of Filipino languages than I do, can comment more than I can.

My understanding is that the term balisong is a sort of a slur from several Filipino dilects and could mean rattling of horns (a reference to the sound that the knife makes as it is manipulated which may sound a bit like animals rattling their horns), broken horn (a reference to the use of animal horn material as an insert material), or to break the horn (a reference to the combative use of the balisong).

"Bali-Song" is a registered trademark owned by Les and Roberta DeAsis and used by Bali-Song Cutlery, Pacific Cutlery, and now Benchmade.

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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com

[This message has been edited by Gollnick (edited 04-02-2000).]

 

[sniperboy]

my guess is that sailors returning form the Philippines coined the term 'butterfly knife' and Les used that bit of pop culture in his insignia.

and Gollnick is right on the language definiteion thingges.


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<A HREF="http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html
</A> If you play with love you will be heartbroken; if you play with knives you will [bleed]