Sword of Myles Standish

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by fernando

So Jim, as you confirm, semantics are not the issue. And you are putting in many words what i have just said in a short clumsy way .

Not at all, what I meant was that semantically the author of the 1656 inventory was describing the sword/item in question as a cutlass, his choice of term, but he might have been describing any number of weapons of the time used in a cutting or chopping manner.
Unfortunately there is no illustration for us to know exactly what he meant, but semantically presume it is our perception of a 'cutlass'.

Words can be confounding and often confusing, which is why I, as you often note, use more words to try to qualify what I am saying.