named all wrong

[Rich S]

We've been naming our beloved knives incorrectly. Early Model1 and 2 and issued Alox are SAKs, but thr red ones we carry (like my beloved Tinker) are Swiss Officers Knives - SOKs.
Just to get terminology correct. SOKs were never issued to Swiss Army Officers   

Not starting an argument or revolution, just having some Sunday fun.

[Bunk Tuppins]

Sort of like that old military saying: drop your SAKs and grab your SOKs, it's time to get up!

[Rich S]

well I guess non-knife folks could confuse SOKs with Socks :-)  Although the Non-knife Peoples probably don't know what a SAK is either.  OK, never mind my senile ramblings.

[Huntsman]

....Early Model1 and 2 and issued Alox are SAKs, but thr red ones we carry .... are Swiss Officers Knives - SOKs.
....

Yes and no!!!   

If you believe all the SAK/SOK history myths ....

Post WW2 when the American forces in Europe discovered these amazing pocket knives called Offiziermesser
They could not pronounce or get their heads around that word - So they called them Swiss Army Knives

So even though that translation/name is not linguistically correct - SAK was the name given to the little red officer's knives.

For me the only true Swiss Army Knives are the 1890, 1951, 1961 and 2008 Soldier models  

[Helvetica Bold]

Strictly that should true but then Victorinox themselves adopted and embraced the generic Swiss Army Knife term themselves and the Swiss Army Knife became the ‘Soldier’ - the marketing guys obviously knew a good thing when they saw it. 

[DavZell]

If anyone wants to sidestep the unbearable angst of getting this right, satisfy yourself this way and sleep well at night:  the officers are part of the army, so their knives are Swiss Army Knives, too. 

So, all the knives can be called SAK's, but only some can be called SOK's. 

Just be glad none of them are called utility knives; that would SUK.

[marlowe221]

My understanding about the 1800s SAK situation is that the officers in the Swiss army were not issues pocket knives because the officers were expected to purchase a lot of their own equipment, since they tended to come from more well to do backgrounds.

But the enlisted men were issued their Soldier models.

[Huntsman]

Just be glad none of them are called utility knives; that would SUK.

 

[nate j]

My understanding about the 1800s SAK situation is that the officers in the Swiss army were not issues pocket knives because the officers were expected to purchase a lot of their own equipment, since they tended to come from more well to do backgrounds.

But the enlisted men were issued their Soldier models.

I’m unsure how far back the practice was common, but I believe at least for a while it is/was usual for soldiers to purchase a second SAK for actual use, and keep the issued one as pristine as possible for inspections.

[marlowe221]

Interesting! I didn’t know that part.