# Why do men like shiny, metre-length, pointy objects? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 19, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679 "2003-01-19T21:05:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/21 "2003-01-20T01:12:42Z")
first swords then the use of the verb smite. and you wonder why you had to leave home without it. if it is dangerous running about with scissors, imagine the danger running about with swords and … gasp… smiting. ---
**Author:** ![Osip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4491bb/32.png) [@Osip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osip)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/22 "2003-01-20T02:07:07Z")
Hurm… why do I like swords? Until last year I was not much of a sword person. Closest thing I had was a soviet infantry shovel, great for gardening , well balanced for throwing and adjusting strangers attitudes with a mighty whack! Yet, I decided to take up fencing. It is a fine and wonderful sport. The basic premise is “pointy end goes in other guy.” With the other guy trying to of course do the same damn thing. Nothing motivates you to get better than someone poking you with a metal stick! I now view them and become aware of the balance, and the way the guard will protect against various styles of attack and defense. They require a great deal of skill to use. which reminds me I should give in to my temptation and order another one as a late birthday/christmas present 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![martin\_ibn\_martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@martin\_ibn\_martin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martin_ibn_martin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/23 "2003-01-20T02:27:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by typhoon \* > \*\*It’s a phallic symbol. \*\* Sometimes a sweihander is just a sweihander:D ---
**Author:** ![mishaa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@mishaa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mishaa)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/24 "2003-01-20T02:45:36Z")
As a female, I can only say the sound of a sword being pulled from it’s scabbard is incredibly erotic - that clang is amazing! Perhaps I was a serving wench in a previous life… ---
**Author:** ![martin\_ibn\_martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@martin\_ibn\_martin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martin_ibn_martin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/25 "2003-01-20T02:48:43Z")
I want a sword. Not just any sword, mind you, but a particular sort of sword. My SCA persona is a 14th century Andalusian, and I think I’ll have to have the appropriate cutlery made custom. Not many Zanata style swords of that era floating around these days. The closest is Museum Replica’s “Sword of Boabdil” whis a repro of a particular blade, and a couple hundres years too late. I’m not a sword freak in general, but I appreciate fine craftmanship and balance. I’ve just enough training to get myself hurt, but to know the difference between a good blade and Paki stock removal junk. Swords are cool. What’s the problem? Martin P.S. For those who are into such things, I found a site run by a Retired Ghurka Rifleman making Khukuri in Nepal. [www.khukurihouse.com](http://www.khukurihouse.com) ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/26 "2003-01-20T02:50:05Z")
Hmmm. Sharp pointy things. Doesn’t matter if it be dagger, knife, sword: something about them attracts me the way jewelery is supposed to attract most women. Perhaps it’s the shine of the metal, combined with their usefullness… try using a necklace to pry open a box! * * * \<\< Buy a Pentium 4 so you can reboot faster! \>\> ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/27 "2003-01-20T02:51:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lobsang \* > \*\*Who here denies that, if they had a sword as an ornament on their wall, and were watching a film with swords in it, they would be tempted to get it off the wall, wave it around, and make ‘swish’ and ‘woosh’ noises? \*\* Me. I grew up with a sword on our den wall, my father’s Maraine Corps Officer’s Sword, made by the Japan Sword Company in the years after WWII when they could no longer make weapons. When I was commissioned a 2ndLt, he presented it to me. It ain’t a toy. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/28 "2003-01-20T02:52:32Z")
**martin** , check link? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/29 "2003-01-20T02:53:17Z")
Us chaps like to imagine being important or talented. But we also like to drink, sit and chill out. Hence there are more males who play air guitar than real guitar.\* For safety reasons, this is a good idea with swords as well. \*alas I don’t have my cite to hand just now… ---
**Author:** ![ThatGuyWithPants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df788c/32.png) [@ThatGuyWithPants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThatGuyWithPants)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/30 "2003-01-20T03:09:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lobsang \* > \*\*Who here denies that, if they had a sword as an ornament on their wall, and were watching a film with swords in it, they would be tempted to get it off the wall, wave it around, and make ‘swish’ and ‘woosh’ noises? \*\* Guilty as charged. I actually have 3 “swords” up in my bedroom. (I’m 17 mind ya’ll). I have a short Roman-style sword…not too flashy but very sharp and functional. then I have a 42-inch claymore…bwhahaha. Last but not least I have my trusty Foil. I love my Foil. I want an Epee, as seeing that I am an avid fencer like a few other posters on here. (The Salle Aramis of Columbus, OH to you USFA members). I’m almost 6’5, I still have 2 inches left to grow too…so its obvious that they are training me for Epee early. 😃 . What I’m REALLY wanting is Indian Katar, but they are so hard to find! Oh sure you can buy them off of e-bay but they are like 300 dollars for one. My dad looked around India when he was there a few months back on a missionary trip, but no avail. I love swords, but Katar are soooo cooler. ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/31 "2003-01-20T03:31:01Z")
Well, I want an Ariane 5 rocket booster that will explode before it reaches orbit, the same as all other guys. And in my bedroom I have a rack (circa 1586), an 88 mm antiaircraft gun (1945), and a complete set of J. Edgar Hoover interrogation room lights (1952). Does that make me weird? ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/32 "2003-01-20T03:36:24Z")
My wife has said on many occasions that I always seem to have a knife within arm’s reach no matter where I am. Her basis for this is that whenever she makes some smart-ass remark my response is usually something along the lines of “Are you sure you want to say that?” and when she looks toward me I have a knife in my hand. To be honest, this mostly happens because I like to snack on cheese or sausage and as a result there’s usually a knife on the table next to my chair. Of course, there was the time when she had figured she was safe because I was in the bathroom, and when I came out of the bathroom I was holding a 10" sheath knife. Why that knife happened to be in the bathroom…well, let’s just say that a few days before I had needed to cut something up, and it was easiest to do it in the bathtub. I don’t have nearly the collection of edged weaponry I’d like to have, mostly for financial reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Niggle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Niggle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niggle)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/33 "2003-01-20T04:51:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by samarm \* > \*\*I don’t get it. Can you explain more about why you want one? > > Can you just go out and buy a sword at a shop? They are lethal weapons, after all (even if they are ornamental). If you can just go and buy one, then go buy one! As long as you’re a sane, normal guy I don’t see the problem. \*\* Multiple sword owner here… Swords are pretty amazing things. Old ones have historical significance, new ones are fantastic to look at. Way back in the day swords were decorated with extremely interesting things (I own several swords of Chinese decent that are well over a hundred years old - they’re fantastic works of art). Here’s the big thing though. Swords by their very nature imply a sort of tension. You’ve got this piece of art (and if you’ve ever read about how they make swords you know it’s an artform) sitting there that is also so extremely capable of violence. It’s like watching a sleeping tiger. I find it very intense to look at a naked sword. Hehe - I’ve even got two beside my bed… 🙂 Oh, and I’m really careful. Some of the newer swords I have are extremely sharp. If you don’t respect them they will hurt you very badly indeed. No wooshing them through the air here, no matter how exciting the movie might’ve been. I always hide my dangerous swords when I have people over. Once I had folks over who thought, in a drunken haze, that swinging around a katana was a good idea. I wasn’t to impressed. Luckily no one got hurt. -n ---
**Author:** ![SC\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@SC\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SC_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/34 "2003-01-20T05:05:09Z")
For what it’s worth, at least one of those sensationalist “Police Videos” shows did a segment about a man armed only with a sword held off a police SWAT team for something like 6 hours before they could finally disarm him. ---
**Author:** ![Virgowitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9fc348/32.png) [@Virgowitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Virgowitch)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/35 "2003-01-20T05:13:45Z")
And what else do men take the trouble to give a name? ---
**Author:** ![Fredge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@Fredge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fredge)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/36 "2003-01-20T05:18:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SC\_Wolf \* > \*\*For what it’s worth, at least one of those sensationalist “Police Videos” shows did a segment about a man armed only with a sword held off a police SWAT team for something like 6 hours before they could finally disarm him. \*\* Only cuz they chose not to shoot him! 😉 I too must admit to wanting a sword. I went to a renaissance festival a few years back and I was a hairs width away from leaving with a sword and a staff. Only the little voice in my head that kept saying “it’ll sit in the corner collecting dust!” kept me from buying. ---
**Author:** ![SC\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@SC\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SC_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/37 "2003-01-20T06:35:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fredge \* > **Only cuz they chose not to shoot him! 😉** Actually, they probably wanted to. Whoever wrote that department’s guidlines for the use of lethal force, chose that they should not shoot him. ---
**Author:** ![typhoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@typhoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typhoon)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/38 "2003-01-20T06:56:27Z")
Well, the point is that he wasn’t exactly Obi-Wan Kenobi reflecting bullets with his sword. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/39 "2003-01-20T07:26:06Z")
I have owned swords in my past. I am currently swordless. It makes me feel kind of naked. Swords are artwork… the past invoked by them, the things associated with them, the deeds inspired by them. Swords are weapons. Those that can truly use them (an ever growing number, albeit slowly) are amazing to see. Like firedancers or beautiful women that dance with snakes… Swords are, like **Niggle** said, liquid violence, frozen in time. I have owned swords in the past, I will own swords in the future. The trouble is finding good ones. And, as an SCA person, if I see another idiot with a sloppy kilt and no shirt wandering around with a Katana, I intend to slap him/her. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679/40 "2003-01-20T11:04:44Z")
And what the hell are we to carry when engaged in quests, if not swords? I like my firearms as much as (probably more than) the next fellow, but nothing beats a sword when one is going on a quest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-like-shiny-metre-length-pointy-objects/149679.md?page=3)