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Originally Posted by Emanuel
Hi Michel,
Sickle = serpe ou faucille, toutes les deux ont la lame concave, non?
In English I think "machete" covers most kinds of large utilitarian blades.
Sickle, bill-hook and scythe cover the concave blades.
For arms, sabre, cutlass and "scimitar" all represent blade with convex cutting edge. I think most kinds of SE Asian klewangs would generally be termed machetes in English, regardless of curvature, thickness or blade profile.
Cheers,
Emanuel
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Hi Emanuel,
I think it depends on the version of English that you use.
I agree that a sickle has to have the concave edge sharpened. These are single-handed tools primarily used for harvesting wheat, and the name has been used for others, such as the kama used to harvest rice and incidentally as a weapon.. Something similar to the kama is called a crane's bill, and of course, the two-handed version is called the scythe.
In America, most of the large utilitarian blades are machetes, but that doesn't mean that any utilitarian blade in America is called a machete.
In England, at least 100 years ago, they used bills/brush hooks/bill hooks, which were typically concave (although some were sharp on both sides), especially for hedging, but also for light pruning jobs. Two-handed bills (typically double-edged) are called blank blades or sling blades at major hardware stores in the US. The french name is fauchard, interestingly, we're back in falx land here.
In Australia, machete-like blades are called bush knives. Probably there are sickles and the rest out there somewhere, but I don't know about them. I wouldn't be surprised if Indonesian goloks aren't percolating in as we speak.
When in doubt, call it a knife, or call it a saber if you want to emphasize its military aspects.
Best,
F