# Do you know what all the keys on your key chain are for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 17, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577 "2010-06-17T17:28:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![PeacePlease](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/71c47a/32.png) [@PeacePlease](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeacePlease)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/41 "2010-06-19T23:36:14Z")
Yep, apt. key, car key, mailbox key, parent’s house key, 'nuff said! ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/42 "2010-06-19T23:41:39Z")
I have 2 keys - one for my Scion and one for the van. Easy peasy! We enter thru the garage so the opener in my car is the equivalent of my front door key. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/43 "2010-06-20T00:57:31Z")
I have two keyrings I carry daily. Each has a single key, so I’m fairly certain what each is for (car and house). The house key is on a Tab keyring from the World of Coke in Atlanta. The car key is on a ring along with a 4x3 cloisonne medallion that proudly states Pussy Wagon – a Kill Bill and GaGa reference. ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/44 "2010-06-20T05:13:20Z")
I have two key rings tied to my purse. One is for the car and the house key and the other is my shed key and a set of keys to my sons place. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/45 "2010-06-20T17:05:12Z")
Funny you started this thread…I was just looking at my keys and have two that I’m not 100% sure of. I think one is the key to another store I occasionally help out at…in fact, I vaguely remember asking the manager to send me an outline of her key so I could check…but the other one is a smaller key, not house or car or the two for my store…got rid of all my daughter’s keys, and finally took the Other Car Key off when my daughter took the car to North Carolina…but this last key is a mystery I must now solve! And it’s not the key to my church, nor to my storage unit…changed that to a combination lock. And I took my brother’s two keys off my ring after he came back from vacation. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/46 "2010-06-20T17:10:04Z")
Yes, at the moment - apartment, laundry room, mailbox, parents’ house, my office, music department office, grad student lounge. During the school year, I have a few more keys to other rooms in the music building, and sometimes I forget which one goes with which room. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/47 "2010-06-20T17:42:43Z")
I’m embarassed by how many old keys I’m carrying around that serve no purpose. I have both keys that I have no idea what they open and keys that I no longer use. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/48 "2010-06-20T19:38:03Z")
Yes. I hate carrying around an over-loaded keychain, so any key that I wouldn’t know what it’s for would come right off. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/49 "2010-06-21T20:16:22Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Y’all have too many work keys, unless that little wand/card thing you wave in front of the black box by the entrance a key. In that case, I have two work keys as well, and yes, I obviously know what they’re for, so I still want my mystery key! Access badges? If we’re counting those, I have another two. (One for our office suite, and one for the building.) But I need the physical key for our space, too, in case the card reader goes down and to lock/unlock the front door. And the other things in the office can’t be opened by our badges. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/50 "2010-06-21T20:34:02Z")
Insiped by this thread, I sorted my keys out yesterday. I put the two keys I use on a regular basis (my car and my house) on one ring and everything else on another. I’ll carry the small ring and the “everything else” ring is going into my car’s glove compartment. ---
**Author:** ![Rala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Rala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rala)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/51 "2010-07-09T09:40:53Z")
Two keys for the house, one for the car and one for the locker I had in high school that I haven’t gotten around to removing yet. ---
**Author:** ![Tess\_Trueheart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Tess\_Trueheart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tess_Trueheart)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/52 "2010-07-10T01:50:22Z")
I was always ending up with keys of questionable origin, or forgetting which keys were which, so I bought a set of cheap colored covers. There were only 6 in the pack, so it’s easy to remember my 6 keys. Red - apartment Blue - bedroom in apartment Yellow- mail Orange - practice room key (grand pianos) Purple - practice room key (general) Green - car My bike is a combination, and the key to my parents’ house only gets added when I’m in their state. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/53 "2010-07-10T01:59:37Z")
Mailbox, apartment, bike, office filing cabinet, lab room, office, old key to the lab room that I never got around to taking off. Some semesters I also have a key to the notebook dropboxes, and when I’m home visiting Mom I have one for her house. ---
**Author:** ![brendon\_small](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brendon_small/32/17101_2.png) [@brendon\_small](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brendon_small)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/54 "2010-07-10T02:17:45Z")
Normal Keys: Chrysler key (wifes) Mitsubishi Key (mine) House key Shed key Work front door key My office key My desk key My parents house key Right now, I’m carrying less keys than normal, just Mitsubishi, house, shed, work, office, and desk. The others sit on the desk at the house. Brendon Small ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/55 "2010-07-10T02:27:59Z")
I have two sets of keys, home keys and work keys. My home ring is straighforward- common door, apartment door, car key, locker key, USB key. My work keyring has 17 work-related keys and a USB key with a bootable compact persistent linux OS and software I can use to remotely administrate the corporate network. I know what 16 of those keys are for but there’s one on the ring that completely mystifies me. I am sure that if I were to ever give up and discard it, its purpose would instantly become apparent and of vital importance, but until then it remains an enigma. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/56 "2010-07-10T02:31:58Z")
Key one is for my car. Key two is for my house. I have a separate key ring with the keys to my mom’s house (3 doors/3 different keys). I don’t take them with me unless I am heading up there. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/57 "2010-07-10T03:26:04Z")
Yes. I have a good memory, so I know what all my keys are for. I also know that 8 out of 11 are for locks I no longer own. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/58 "2010-07-10T04:46:59Z")
I think I may win… yes, I know what THE key on my key chain is for… the car I’m driving today. Different car, different key chain with ONE key on it. Work ID gets me where I need to go at work, garage openers and/or touch pads get me in my house. I really want to get a car that uses the fob as the key so all you have to do is push the button to start the car and then my key chain will stay in my pocket and never be touched. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/59 "2010-07-10T14:03:18Z")
House, house, car, Mom’s house. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577/60 "2010-07-10T17:14:30Z")
Easy enough. My condo and the front entrance at work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-all-the-keys-on-your-key-chain-are-for/543577.md?page=4)