# Safe deposit box or safety deposit box?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-deposit-box-or-safety-deposit-box/321775>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 15, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-deposit-box-or-safety-deposit-box/321775 "2005-09-15T13:44:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-deposit-box-or-safety-deposit-box/321775/21 "2015-10-21T20:57:17Z")

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It’s also a place to keep a deposit safe. “Safe” can be used as a modifier (e.g., “safe haven”). So you start with a box. A box where you put in money is a “deposit box.” One where your money is safe is a “safe deposit box.”

“Safety deposit box” comes from the mistaken beliefs that “safe” is only a noun, and that a noun cannot modify another noun.

In any case, both terms are used interchangeably, regardless of which is “right” or not.

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-deposit-box-or-safety-deposit-box/321775/22 "2015-10-21T23:49:10Z")

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Looking at updated cites in newspapers and books, the term were interchangeable around 1870. Both meant the same thing.

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**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-deposit-box-or-safety-deposit-box/321775/23 "2015-10-22T02:12:12Z")

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Certified Master Locksmith here.

It’s _ **safe** _, not safety. 99% of the locksmith supply companies, locksmith magazines, and locksmith catalogs all call it a “safe deposit box”. It’s a box which is inside a safe, where you deposit your valuables. There may be confusion amongst the general public, but professional locksmiths are in near-unanimous agreement on this issue, to the point where you could chalk up the rare occurrences of “safety” as mere typos.

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**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-deposit-box-or-safety-deposit-box/321775/24 "2015-10-22T02:46:13Z")

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[The Wikipedia entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_deposit_box) is listed as “Safe Deposit Box,” but it says “otherwise known as safety deposit box.” American Heritage Dictionary has an entry for [safe-deposit box](https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=safe-deposit%20box) but does not give an alternative name.

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