# I'm a hoodlum! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 16, 2017, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305 "2017-03-16T12:48:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305/1 "2017-03-16T12:48:53Z")
I got this the other day, a real Italian Stiletto. šŸ˜› A real beauty and well made by a famous knife maker in Italy. Iā€™m thinking of getting another one but with 11" overall/5" blade and yellow/black handle. Iā€™m not going to carry it much as I have an HK Turmoil thatā€™s my EDC. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CENc5uthTUA/hqdefault.jpg "AB Stiletto from SKM") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CENc5uthTUA) ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305/2 "2017-03-16T19:27:58Z")
What are you gonna use it for? ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305/3 "2017-03-16T21:14:42Z")
Nothing really. Itā€™s for admiring and show off to friends. I already have an EDC knife. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/YivfzVM5Xzs/hqdefault.jpg "HK Turmoil") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YivfzVM5Xzs) ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305/4 "2017-03-16T21:56:39Z")
I like knives. This summer I was fortunate enough to forge my own blade! I have a friend whoā€™s a blacksmith. Next heā€™s gonna teach me how to make a kitchen knife. ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305/5 "2017-03-17T22:34:43Z")
I like to collect knives. Got quite a few already. šŸ†’ [https://s25.postimg.org/5pn25ocv3/S5030699.jpg](https://postimg.org/image/62egbuv4r/)[click image upload](https://postimage.org/) [https://s25.postimg.org/u34undonz/S5030779.jpg](https://postimg.org/image/q6rire3ob/)[pic host](https://postimage.org/) [https://s25.postimg.org/eyp8fslr3/S5030701.jpg](https://postimg.org/image/lp5pp88wr/)[free upload image](https://postimage.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305/6 "2017-03-18T02:27:35Z")
[My sock drawer commando knife.](https://images.knifecenter.com/thumb/1500x1500/knifecenter/ixl/images/SHE006nw.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305/7 "2017-03-18T02:46:10Z")
> [@Plumpudding](#): > > I like knives. This summer I was fortunate enough to forge my own blade! I have a friend whoā€™s a blacksmith. Next heā€™s gonna teach me how to make a kitchen knife. Why do you need a kitchen knife when you have a stiletto? Bitch wonā€™t cook, you cut her. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305/8 "2017-03-18T11:44:39Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > I got this the other day, a real Italian Stiletto. That looks very nice. But itā€™s thoroughly illegal in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305/9 "2017-03-18T15:51:33Z")
[Tell it to the judge!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7TT4jnnWys) šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Walton\_Firm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@Walton\_Firm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walton_Firm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305/10 "2017-03-18T17:50:21Z")
Wouldnā€™t a classic Italian stiletto have the blade shoot out from the front, rather than rotate out from the side? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305/11 "2017-03-18T18:25:24Z")
> [@Walton\_Firm](#): > > Wouldnā€™t a classic Italian stiletto have the blade shoot out from the front, rather than rotate out from the side? Yeah, isnā€™t that a switchblade, rather than a stiletto? ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305/12 "2017-03-18T18:50:32Z")
Now thatā€™s an interesting question there. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305/13 "2017-03-18T22:40:59Z")
When I was a hoodlum switchblade knives were like $4.95 in any pawnshop. Brass knuckles, blackjacks, Saturday night specialsā€”readily available and dirt cheap. I miss the good old days. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2017, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305/14 "2017-03-19T01:24:09Z")
Be very careful. Never try to use that for self defense. Not ever. The DA will show it to the jury and the jury will never buy that you were an innocent victim of a burglary or a home invasion. ---
**Author:** ![Walton\_Firm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@Walton\_Firm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walton_Firm)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-hoodlum/782305/15 "2017-03-19T14:36:27Z")
To answer my own question: According to Wikipedia, the term ā€œstilettoā€ originally referred to the blade design (long and slender, optimized for thrusting rather than slashing) rather than the opening mechanism. In fact the first stilettos were fixed-blade daggers, rather than folding or switchblade knives. During the 1950ā€™s, a lot of automatic-opening knives with the same blade shape were imported from Italy to the US, and they were also referred to as stilettoā€™s. Some of them had telescoping blades, but side-opening mechanisms were also common. So apparently the answer to my question is: no, itā€™s the blade shape that makes a knife a stiletto, not the details of the opening mechanism.