"Snickersnee?"
I just ran into this wonderful term again. It's supposedly a corruption of the dutch for "thrust and cut," and in Victorian England, it supposedly went from a term for knife fighting to mean a large, sword-like knife. It also made an appearance in Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado (who was wearing a snickersnee in one verse).
My question: has anyone ever seen a large, late Victorian knife or sword actually labelled as a snickersnee, or was it just a word? Since it showed up in the Mikado, I'm also wondering if perhaps it had something to do with Japanese blades, and Victorian misperceptions of these weapons.
Best,
F
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