# Who doesn't like knives? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 27, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880 "2012-01-27T17:29:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/21 "2012-01-27T20:23:25Z")
It’s not that I don’t like knives, it’s just that we already have a nice set of kitchen knives and I have a full set of craft knives in various sizes and two Leathermans. In other words, I have all the knives I want or need. If you got me a knife as a gift, I would smile, thank you, tell you what a nice knife it is…and send it straight to Goodwill. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/22 "2012-01-27T20:49:47Z")
I love knives, but I’m usually too cheap to by one for myself. I’ve got a cheap pocketknife I keep on my keychain mostly for opening boxes, and some blades for RenFaire that are mostly hip-hangers (iow, for display purposes only). I think even my kitchen knives are cheap. If somebody bought me some nice knives, for anything, I’d be thrilled. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/23 "2012-01-27T21:21:50Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Knives makes great gifts. Just be sure to give the giver a penny so the knife doesn’t “cut your friendship.” 😃 … Yup. In many cultures, giving a knife or similar sharp object as an outright gift is considered an insult. It’s the opposite of our phrase “burying the hatchet.” I have a lovely letter opener, silver with amber like everything else Poles make, from my Polish aunt, and that was sent to me with a _zloty_ or maybe a _groszek_ taped to it. That said, Mr. Horseshoe loves to give and receive knives in particular (he works at a place that sells very high-quality stuff so he can get discounts, which he _also_ loves to do) and I am a pragmatic type who likes useful gifts anyway. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/24 "2012-01-27T21:26:27Z")
I am glad I do live where a good knife is most useful and sometimes necessary, over & above carving, steak and string & tape cutting devices are the only use for sharp blades. TriPolar got it best, hand grenade would make my day… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/25 "2012-01-27T21:38:50Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Yup. In many cultures, giving a knife or similar sharp object as an outright gift is considered an insult. The way I’ve heard it is as a superstition, originated in an area famous for their knives: if you give a knife, that will cut the friendship. Therefore, if someone gives you a knife, you pay them a symbolic amount. My mother doesn’t like knives at all, which I guess helps explain why most of hers can’t cut anything more solid than air. It has the advantage of keeping her away from my good ones (well, they’re not particularly good, two ceramic ones from IKEA, but they sure cut much better than anything of hers). Middlebro loves knifes. Swiss army knives, decorated knifes, chopping knifes. He likes tools in general, but a knife with an excuse attached? Glory. Littlebro has asked Middlebro to get him “a small pocketknife with a lantern”, which apparently Middlebro has already lovingly selected but insists is actually a tiny lantern with an even-tinier folding blade. Other than that he is pretty indiferent to knives. Middlebro’s wife was complaining about her husband’s knives and I pointed out “well, I guess it’s a good thing you finally didn’t go for a surgical specialty then!” She’s an MD. She started saying “but a _bisturí_ isn’t… oh… I guess it is, really…” (why tell it with the Spanish word? Because in Spanish ‘surgical knife’ happens to be a single word and does not include the word for ‘knife’). She still doesn’t like knives, but then, she doesn’t like drills or screwdrivers either… ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/26 "2012-01-27T22:19:15Z")
My best friend got me a set of good kitchen knives one Christmas. It was the best present I didn’t even know I wanted. She had heard me whining about my knives at one point and picked up on it. It’s a reasonable gift if the person will enjoy it. But that goes for just about anything. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/27 "2012-01-27T22:30:37Z")
Nava, the word you’re looking for is scalpel. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/28 "2012-01-27T22:35:07Z")
Not sure about that, we have both _escalpelos_ and _bisturíes_ and they’re different. Does scalpel cover all kinds of surgical knives? ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/29 "2012-01-27T23:59:35Z")
I give pocketknives or multi-tools as gifts all the time. Many people won’t spend the money it takes to acquire a good quality knife, and most folks have no idea the variety and capabilities of them. I hate guys who say “oh, I just carry this 3 dollar knife in case I lose it.” They’re cheap, dull, and unsafe. I’m not saying I’ve \*\*never \*\*lost a knife in 40 years, but I can count them on 2 fingers! A quality knife will last a lifetime or more, and I have many people tell me they think of me every time they open a package or stab a crack dealer who has been pestering them:D I certainly see fewer women willing to carry a pocketknife, but a little yellow or pink [SAK](http://www.swissarmy.com/us/product/Swiss-Army-Knives/Category/Everyday/Classic-SD/53005), or a [Squirt](http://www.leatherman.com/product/Squirt_P4) has always gotten me a hug and a thank you! BTW, don’t Google just “squirt” images until the kids have gone to bed.:smack: My EDC [basket](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v677/ural/Picture45620.jpg)is big, and I pick and choose 2 or 3 every day, depending on my mood and/or plans. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/30 "2012-01-28T00:06:56Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > I certainly see fewer women willing to carry a pocketknife, but a little yellow or pink [SAK](http://www.swissarmy.com/us/product/Swiss-Army-Knives/Category/Everyday/Classic-SD/53005), or a [Squirt](http://www.leatherman.com/product/Squirt_P4) has always gotten me a hug and a thank you! OK, not a chick, but you just posted the two that are always in my pocket, depending on which vehicle I happen to have driven that day. Squirt on one keyring, Classic SD (in red) on the other. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/31 "2012-01-28T00:19:33Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > It must be a guy thing. I was at a furniture store-opening once with my mother and father - the store was giving each male customer a pocket knife and each female customer a hand mirror; my mother insisted on getting a pocket knife for herself (and succeeded). ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/32 "2012-01-28T00:48:51Z")
A knife seems like a fairly personal gift to me, other than a kitchen knife or steak knife set. Maybe a swiss-style multi-tool would be cool, I guess I did get one of those as a gift, and I do carry it in my bag. (female here) When I was choosing my locking-blade byrd knife, it was a pretty personal thing and I don’t think I would have been happy with any knife someone else chose for me. But, I’m not a “knife person” really. I did give my dad a little knife-in-cork floating keychain for his boat keys one Christmas. If someone not really close to me, with whom I had never had a conversation about knives, gave me one as a gift, I would probably think it was a little odd. Unless I was known as a collector. So, along with the rest of the above wishy-washy opinion, I guess it just depends on how good a friend this birthday friend is, and whether you know them well enough to give the right kind of knife. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/33 "2012-01-28T01:27:45Z")
After all these posts, I’m a little reluctant to be the first one to say, “I don’t like knives.” I’m just uncomfortable around them. I’ve only had minor cuts, but I’m always aware of the dangers and don’t like being around anything sharp. I was just explaining to someone why I don’t want a shredder. I just see it as an accident waiting to happen. In my house, I have four fairly dull, serrated steak knives that I use when I need to slice food. I don’t really cook, though. I think if someone gave me a knife as a gift, I would probably thank them politely and then find an opportunity to regift it. That said, my mother loves her mini Swiss army knife, and I’ve been thinking I might like one – mainly for the tools (scissors, tweezers, file, etc.) rather than for an actual knife blade, which I don’t think I would use. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/34 "2012-01-28T01:35:43Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > In this case, I was going with an[AG Russell 2.5 titanium lockback](http://www.agrussell.com/product.asp?pn=RUS-P6CQ) that I have on hand. I think it all depends on the person. If I got a present like that, I would feign excitement and say thank you, but I would probably put it in a drawer and forget all about it. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/35 "2012-01-28T02:54:01Z")
If someone gave me a knife, I’d be baffled. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/36 "2012-01-28T03:04:44Z")
I would get someone a knife they were having a housewarming party for moving from somewhere that had no kitchen to a place that did. Or if they’re relatively young and learning to cook. But for my parents or friends who have established households? Not unless they had recently remarked that they’d lost/destroyed/irreparably dulled their favorite knife. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/37 "2012-01-28T03:17:05Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > If someone gave me a knife, I’d be baffled. Yeah. I mean, I have a cheap multi tool, and I suppose I’d like a better one because I use the thing at least twice a decade. But if someone thought “What Paul really wants is a knife!” I would think they didn’t know me. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/38 "2012-01-28T06:15:49Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > After all these posts, I’m a little reluctant to be the first one to say, “I don’t like knives.” I’m just uncomfortable around them. I’ve only had minor cuts, but I’m always aware of the dangers and don’t like being around anything sharp. Fair enough–and believe me, as much as I like knives, I’m very careful with them. I’ve had more than enough cuts to last me a lifetime. > [@](#): > > In my house, I have four fairly dull, serrated steak knives that I use when I need to slice food. I don’t really cook, though. This troubles me, though. Generally speaking, you’re actually more likely to cut yourself with a dull knife than with a sharp one, because you have to apply more force, and it’s less consistent. Cuts from a dull blade are often nastier, too. You’re probably better off using a sharp knife and handling it carefully. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/39 "2012-01-28T15:44:32Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > It’s not that I don’t like knives, it’s just that we already have a nice set of kitchen knives and I have a full set of craft knives in various sizes and two Leathermans. In other words, I have all the knives I want or need. If you got me a knife as a gift, I would smile, thank you, tell you what a nice knife it is…and send it straight to Goodwill. Pretty much this. I like knives but I have all that I need already. I’ve got a few quality pocket knives and multitool. I have a full set of good (though rather utilitarian) kitchen knives. A gifted knife would end up in a drawer, unless it was significantly better than the knives I have normally use. And I doubt anyone is going to spontaneously drop $100 on a gift for me without knowing what I already have… So as a sort of standard gift idea, knives would work for a few groups of people: people who collect knives and will never have enough, and people that might like a knife but never thought of buying one before. Though now that I think of it, my Leatherman Wave is too clunky to carry every day, so if any of y’all are looking for gift ideas, I’d appreciate a Squirt or Juice… ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880/40 "2012-01-28T16:35:44Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > If someone gave me a knife, I’d be baffled. Pretty much yeah. If I’ve got a need for a blade then I probably already have the right one. X-acto knives are what I use for work and craft (No. 1 and 2s). The kitchen knife set is more than adequate. On the garage workbench a utility knife handles the cutting and carving. About six months ago my wife was give a pair of hunting style knives from the father of a friend. One for her and one for me. In theory I should like such a thing --I played with toy soldiers as a kid-- but I don’t skin animals and I’d prefer a club or gun for self-defense. So, the thing is sitting on my bookshelf. The only function it has is to make me worried that someday there might be a screaming domestic dispute in my house and the knife will make a dramatic appearance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-like-knives/610880.md?page=3)