Just learned why old anvils have that step called the "bick"

Was reading an old forum thread last night and found out the bick (or horn) on a farrier anvil actually came from the French word "bic" meaning beak. Never really thought about where the name came from, but it makes sense now. Anyone else ever dig into the history of their tools like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

abby_black1mo ago

That's such a cool bit of trivia. Never knew that either.

uma6851mo ago

Makes you wonder how much other stuff is just hiding in plain sight like that... @abby_black it's like when you learn a new word and suddenly you see it everywhere. Same thing happens with buildings or old signs in my neighborhood, once someone points them out you can't unsee them. But most people just walk right past without noticing.

danielb4318d ago

I watched a documentary on old blacksmithing methods a couple years back and they mentioned the same thing about the bick. The whole design of the anvil is pretty smart when you think about it - the horn for shaping curves, the hard face for hammering, and the soft base to absorb shock. What also stuck with me was how the pritchel hole got its name from a German word meaning "to prick" since you use it for punching holes. It's funny how these terms just survived unchanged for centuries while the tools themselves barely changed either. Most people just see a hunk of metal but there's a whole language hidden in the shape of it.