Claw

Claw (pronounced klaw)

(1) In zoology (1) A sharp, usually curved, nail on the foot of an animal, as on a cat, dog or bird; (2) a corresponding structure in some invertebrates, such as the pincer of a crab (3) a similar curved process at the end of the leg of an insect a (4) a foot so equipped.

(2) A mechanical device either resembling a claw or with similar functionality, used for gripping or lifting.

(3) In colloquial use, a human fingernail, particularly if long (natural or extended).

(4) In botany, slender appendage or process, formed like a claw, such as the formation found at the base of petals.

(5) In juggling, the act of catching a ball overhand.

(6) To tear, scratch, seize, pull, etc, with or as if with claws.

(7) To make by or as if by scratching, digging etc, with hands or claws.

(8) To make fumbling motions.

Pre 900: From the Middle English noun clawen (sharp, hooked, horny end of the limb of a mammal, bird, reptile etc), from the Old English clawan, clāwan & clēn (claw, talon, iron hook), from the Proto-Germanic klawjaną & klawō and cognate with the Old High German kluwi, chlōa & chlō and akin to the Middle Dutch klouwe, the Dutch klauen & klauw, the Old Frisian klawe (claw, hoe), the West Frisian klau, the Sanskrit glau- (ball, sphere), the Danish, Norwegian & Swedish klo and the German Klaue (claw).  The Old English verb clawian (to scratch, claw) shared its etymology with the nouns and the developments in other Germanic languages included the Dutch klaauwen, the Old High German klawan and the German klauen.  Claw is a noun & verb, clawer is a noun. clawless is an adjective, clawed is a verb & adjective, clawing is a verb, noun & adjective and clawingly is an adverb; the noun plural is claws.

The phrase “to claw back” in the sense of "regain by great effort" sounds ancient but is documented only since 1953 as a noun; the verb (an act of this) coming into use in 1969.  The sense of antiquity comes from “clawback” which since at least the 1540s meant “one who fawns on another; a sycophant” and that was derived from the late fourteenth century “claw the back” (to flatter, to curry favor) which was different from the modern “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours) which is about co-operation with a whiff of something corrupt.  The use of “claw back” expanded in the 1970s to describe a trick in politics whereby the voters were given something in the run-up to an election and after getting their votes, a government would “claw back” what was given by using some mechanism apparently unrelated to the original bribe.  The noun dew claw (also as dew-claw) describes the “"rudimentary inner toe of the foot, especially the hind foot, of some dogs” and has been documented since the 1570s but may have enjoyed long regional use and etymologists note that while the claw part is obvious, the origin of the other element is mysterious.  The verb “declaw” was from veterinary science and was used usually of a procedure applied to creatures in zoos or domestic pets to make them less dangerous to others or their environment.  It’s become controversial.  In figurative use, it’s used to describe processes which limit the effectiveness of sporting teams, political parties etc.  Phrases like “showing her claws” & “scratching her eyes out” were once applied usually to (and about) bolshie women but it’s since been embraced by various parts of the LGBTQQIAAOP community; it’s used as required.  Claw is one of those words in English with a structural duality; in zoology a claw may either be a single nail or a collection of several.

Alexander McQueen’s “Armadillo boots” with “claw heels” (left) and Lindsay Lohan out walking in New York in claw heels, 2011 (left).

Alexander McQueen (1969-2010) displayed his “Armadillo boots” as part of the spring/summer 2010 Plato’s Atlantis collection which turned out to be his final show.  Inspired by the ideas made famous in Charles Darwin’s (1809-1882) On the Origin of Species (1859), the collection was an imagining of humankind evolving into a species living underwater (and thus technically a devolution) as hybrid aquatic creatures.  The boots were a blend of the shape of an Armadillo with the claw-like heel borrowed from the lobster, all finished in turquoise, sea-green and other shades evocative of oceans and coral reefs.  The combination of the 9-inch (230 mm) claw stiletto heel and the unnatural shape the foot made to assume meant the thought exercise was intended more to please fashion editors than end up on cobblers’ lasts but as Lindsay Lohan demonstrates, when combined with a more conventional fitting, the claw heel is manageable, the change in the centre of gravity induced by the forward movement of the heels point of contact presumably minimal.  While not conventionally attractive, the boots were admired by those who appreciate such things for their own sake and criticized by those who take such things too seriously.

Among his assemblages, Salvador Dalí’s (1904-1989) Lobster Telephone (1936) is the best known and probably as famous as La persistènciade la memòria (The Persistence of Memory (although often referred to as the more evocative “melting clocks”)) is among his paintings.  It tends now to be forgotten that by the 1930s the Surrealist movement had come to be seen as moribund, an idea which had worked its concepts dry but in a creative burst, Dali and his collaborators built installations both minute and at scale which, playing with conjunction of objects and spaces never before associated, managed what’s so rarely achieved in art: the genuinely new.  The lobster was also for Dali a sex object which may sound improbable until it’s remembered how influential had become the works of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and the crustacean, with its succulent white flesh promising pleasure and those menacing claws nothing but pain, was quite a motif.  To make the point he painted a large lobster for Elsa Schiaparelli (1890–1973) who in 1937 placed it with care on an evening gown, achieving an erotic playfulness.  Dali had just a much fun with the telephone, the claws enveloping a user’s ear while the tail, home of the sexual organs, was placed directly over the mouthpiece.

Avoiding the claws: Lindsay Lohan saving a lobster from certain death in Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club (2019).  Her intentions were pure but the ultimate fate of the crustacean remains uncertain. 

The Claw of Death, Chernobyl, Ukraine.

Although the whole, vast wasteland of the restricted zone which was declared after the nuclear accident in 1986 has any number of abandoned structures and relics, there’s something about the “claw of death” which people find especially eerie.  The radioactive artifact of Soviet-era nuclear power-plant design is a hydraulically activated clawed bucket which was once attached to one of the pieces of heavy machinery used to move contaminated objects during the decontamination process and although there are contradictory reports, it seems it was used to clear concrete, uranium & graphite debris from the collapsed roof of the building which housed the destroyed reactor.

Today, and for the indefinite future, the claw is located in the yard of the Service of Special Engineering Works in Pripyat and has become a tourist attraction and is always on the itinerary of guided tours of Chernobyl, the moniker “Claw of Death” a little misleading: it’s safe to within a few metres of the thing for a short period although close, prolonged exposure would cause radiation poisoning.  As soon as the clean-up operation was complete, the claw was dumped where it now sits and things were done in such a rush it was left in the middle of a road.  Because of Moscow’s “special military operation”, Chernobyl tourism is in abeyance but there’s no suggesting the claw will be moved so when business resumes, the claw will be waiting.  It can’t be melted-down or buried because of the risk of contaminating the soil or groundwater.

Lindsay Lohan as "Carrie" meets Freddy Krueger (boxer Floyd Mayweather (b 1977)), A Night Full of Fright, Halloween party at Foxwoods Resort Casino, Connecticut, 30 October 2013 (left).  Freddy Krueger was "the bastard son of a hundred maniacs", the antagonist in the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series (of which ANoES III was the best) and portrayed most memorably by Robert Englund (b 1947) (right).  His signature device was the clawed glove.

Clutch

Clutch (pronounced kluhch)

(1) To seize with or as with the hands or claws; snatch.

(2) To grip or hold tightly or firmly.

(3) In slang, to spellbind; grip a person's emotions, attention, or interest; to become tense with fright or panic (both archaic and rare outside US).

(4) To operate the clutch in a vehicle.

(5) The hand, claw, etc when grasping.

(6) Power of disposal or control; mastery (usually in the plural).

(7) The act of clutching; a snatch or grasp; a tight grip or hold.

(8) A device for gripping something.

(9) In automotive and other machinery, a mechanism for readily engaging or disengaging a shaft with or from another shaft or rotating part (a specialized form of coupling); a control, usually a pedal, for operating this mechanism.

(10) In sports, an extremely important or crucial moment of a game (rare outside US).

(11) Any critical position or situation; emergency (rare outside US).

(12) A small purse that can be carried in the hand and usually has no handle or strap (also called clutch bag).

(13) In poultry production, a hatch of eggs; the number of eggs produced or incubated at one time; a brood of chickens.

(14) One of several collective nouns for books or dancers.

1175–1225: A variant of (the now Northern English dialectal) cletch, from the Middle English clucchen, clicchen, cluchen, clechen & cleken, a variant of clicchen, from the Old English clyccan (bring together, bend (the fingers), clench), akin to the Scots cleck (to hatch) from the Old Norse klekja (to hatch) and related to the Old Frisian kletsie (spear) & the Swedish klyka (clasp, fork).  It was cognate with the Irish glac (hand).  The origins of the English verb were Germanic, the source the Proto-Germanic klukjaną, from the Proto-Germanic klu- (to ball up, conglomerate, amass), from the primitive Indo-European glew- (to ball up; lump, mass).  It was cognate with the Swedish klyka (clamp, fork, branch). The noun is from Middle English cleche, cloche, & cloke (claw, talon, hand), related to the Scots cleuk, cluke & cluik (claw, talon), of uncertain origin, with the form probably assimilated to the verb.

The meaning "to grasp" is early fourteenth century; that of "to seize with the claws or clutches" from later that century.  The sense of "hold tightly and close" is from circa 1600, influenced by the Middle English cloke (a claw) whereas "a brood, the number of eggs incubated at any one time" (in reference to chickens) dates from 1721 and is a (southern England) dialectal variant of cletch (1690s), noun from the verb cleck which is from the 1400s Middle English clekken (to hatch, give birth to), most likely from a Scandinavian source such as the Old Norse klekja (to hatch), perhaps of imitative origin in the same way as cluck.  The original meaning (a grip, grasp, tight hold) dates from circa 1200, the form clutches (in the sense of “the hands" suggesting grasping rapacity or cruelty) not emerging until the 1520s.  A product of the industrial revolution, the mechanical clutch (movable mechanical coupling or locking and unlocking contrivance for transmitting motion) is from 1814 with the "seizing" sense extended to "a coupling device for bringing working parts together".  Originally applied to the static machines in mills, it was first used to describe the transmissions (as the coupling between crankshaft and gearbox) in 1899.  The now rare meaning "moment when heroics are required" is attested from the 1920s but never gained currency outside the US

The clutch purse

One’s eye is always drawn to a nice clutch purse.  Salma Hayek (b 1966) with Alexander McQueen (1969-2010) skull clutch, Evening Standard Theatre Awards, London, November 2015.

The modern definition of a “clutch” is a handbag without handles but with a detachable (sometimes a chain) strap and (usually) rectangular in shape.  Most often an evening bag, they can be used during the day, the most defining characteristics being they’re slim and primarily hand-held.  Bags and purses predate pockets and the clutch bag seems to have been a very early solution to the problem of carrying small, high-value possessions.  Evidence survives in the historic record in paintings and tapestries but few examples remain extant because almost all were made from perishable materials, a seven-hundred year old relic on display at London’s Courtauld Gallery the oldest known to exist.

For her much anticipated appearances at the Cannes film Festival, Salma Hayek has over the years made the clutch purse her signature accessory, guaranteeing attention from the photographers.

Lindsay Lohan with Carmen Steffens evening clutch, annual amfAR fundraiser at the Cannes Film Festival, Hotel Eden Roc in Cap D’Antibes, May 2017.

In many parts of the world, clutch bags never went away but in the west, the increasing emancipation in the nineteenth century meant bags became larger and the clutch all but disappeared.   It was the resurgence of classical style dresses in the 1920s which led to its revival because it was an ideal accessory for the diaphanous flapper dresses of the era, a style which didn’t detract from the line of the body.  They’ve not since faded from popularity and are now an essential fashion accessory, performing also the socially invaluable function of giving the hands something to do. Because clutch purses so often tend to the rectangular in all aspects, they’re often styled using the motifs associated with the art deco era of the early-mid twentieth century and most designers seem to favor the elaborate, decorative styles of the earlier (pre 1929 Wall Street crash) art deco.  Given the small size of a clutch purse, this can be a challenge to implement but so can the more simplified plays of flattened and stylized geometric shapes or abstract patterns.

Cadillac, Ferrari and the clutch pedal

Although not all early Ferraris were so equipped and by 1976 the 400 GT was even offered with an automatic transmission (General Motors’ famously robust Turbo-Hydramatic 400), the open-gate shift was for decades a motif associated with the marque.  However, advances in hydraulics and electronics meant that by the early twenty-first century, the inefficiencies and technical disadvantages attached to automatic transmissions had been overcome to the point where no Ferrari with a manual transmission, however expertly driven, could match their performance.  Using automatic transmissions meant a clutch pedal was no longer necessary but it didn’t mean clutches were deleted; instead they were automated.  Scuderia Ferrari first used the technology in the Tipo 640 Formula One car in 1989 and any doubts about its speed or reliability were quickly allayed, the machine winning at its maiden appearance in the Brazilian Grand Prix.  Development continued and in 1997, the automated system, dubbed F1, was offered as an option in the F355, the first road car so equipped, the electro-hydraulic system operated by paddles behind the steering wheel linked to the F355's otherwise conventional 6-speed manual transmission.

It certainly started a trend and paddles quickly become almost a de rigueur piece of technology for high-performance cars, the occasional old style, three-pedal model released only to cater for the dwindling number of drivers who enjoyed the experience of the way things used to be done.  In Ferrari dealerships, the numbers dwindled fast and the last Ferrari with a manual transmission was sold in 2012, the replacement a dual-clutch transmission (also called twin-clutch or double-clutch) which used two separate clutches for odd and even gear-sets although the separate transmissions had their respective clutches contained in one housing, working as a single unit.  The model which enjoyed the distinction of providing a swansong for the old open gate was the California.  Upon release in 2008 it was estimated between 5-10% of buyers would opt for a clutch pedal but, between then and late 2011, a mere three were ordered (some sources say two or five but the factory insists it was three).

2012 Ferrari California (top) and 2012 Cadillac CTS-V sedan.

So the last decade at Maranello has been automatic (technically “automated manual transmission”) all the way and although a consequence of the quest for ultimate performance, it wasn’t anything dictatorial and had customer demand existed at a sustainable level, the factory would have continued to supply manual transmissions.  Amusingly, Cadillac had in 2004 begun offering a model with a manual transmission for the first time since the 1953 Series 75 (among the Cadillac crowd the Cimarron (1982-1988) is never spoken of except in the phrase "the unpleasantness of 1982" ) and by 2013, while one could buy a Cadillac with a clutch pedal, one could not buy such a Ferrari.  For most of the second half of the twentieth century, few would have thought that anything but improbable or unthinkable.

Whether that’s going to change isn’t certain but in 2025 Ferrari disclosed the idea was being considered.  Not only have there been requests from “customers in good standing with the factory” but also it will have been noted a niche industry has emerged where specialists convert the paddle-shifted into cars with the traditional gated transmission, complete with a clutch pedal.  In some cases this is done exclusively with the use of genuine Ferrari parts while others use a mix of those and some machined as replicas; either way the build costs tens of thousands of dollars so it’s easy to see why the feeling in  Maranello may be there’s a lucrative gap in the market.  It’s not that Ferrari’s view about the technical superiority of the automated transmission has changed, just that the laws of physics and the realities of human physiology interact to impose a limit on the performance it’s possible for modern cars to attain.  While years of technological advances and investments in engineering probably could make cars quicker and faster, Ferraris in their present form already offer performance beyond what most drivers safely can exploit (certainly on public roads).  Indeed, Ferrari note the AWD (all-wheel-drive) SF90 XX already is within two-tenths of a second of the 2.3 seconds the current Formula One race car takes for the 0-100 km/h (0—60 mph) run and there’s little point in pushing further in this direction because the Formula One drivers of today have a very different physiology from those of earlier generations because of the specific muscle development required to withstand the stresses and G-forces.  A typical human simply wouldn’t cope.

In the Ferrari boardroom, when pondering the return of the gated transmission, the 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 428 probably won't much be discussed but the principle is the same: The three-speed automatic (left) is quicker while the four-speed manual (right) is more fun.

So while the focus on ultimate performance might be restricted to a handful of special models, the famous gated shifter might make a comeback, not because it’s better but because it’s more fun.  In the post-war years the British manufacturers sold to Americans shiploads of their underpowered, antiquated roadsters, not because they were fast but because they were so entertaining to drive and the collector market does support the allure: all else being equal, between a Ferrari with a gated shift and an otherwise identical one with paddles, it’s the one with the clutch pedal which will command a premium.  That preference extends to other segments such as the Porsche 911 & Jaguar E-Type and while with that pair the manual gearbox offers both higher speeds and more fun, even though many US muscle cars were in the 1960s & 1970s ordered with automatic gearboxes because that was the quickest way along a drag-strip’s ¼ mile, it’s now the ones with a four-speed manual which are most sought.  The attraction for Ferrari is of course that fun can be just another packaged commodity on the option list and if it does re-appear, the gated transmission is expected to be expensive because while its old technology, it needs to be profitable and the factory are well acquainted with the margins options offer.  On the 2019 812 Superfast for example, in addition to the MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price) of US$561,272, buyers could tick the box for, inter alia, the AFS (Adaptive Front Lights) & SBL (Static Bending Lights) combo (US$3,375), yellow brake calipers (US$1,519), a pair of cloisonné prancing horse fender shields (US$15,000), carbon-fibre dashboard inserts (US$7,593) and a golf bag matching the interior trim (US$10,000).  All those were cheaper than matte paint (US$40,000) but Bentley charge US$160,000 for a Breitling clock so it’s not unreasonable to expect a Ferrari gated shift to list well into six figures and to "test the waters", at least initially, availability will be restricted to a single model although, as the "customer is always right", if demand clearly exists, supply will follow.

Nail

Nail (pronounced neyl)

(1) A slender, typically rod-shaped rigid piece of metal, usually in many lengths and thicknesses, having (usually) one end pointed and the other (usually) enlarged or flattened, and used for hammering into or through wood, concrete or other materials; in the building trades the most common use is to fasten or join together separate pieces (of timber etc).

(2) In anatomy, a thin, horny plate, consisting of modified epidermis, growing on the upper side of the end of a finger or toe; the toughened protective protein-keratin (known as alpha-keratin, also found in hair) at the end of an animal digit, such as fingernail.

(3) In zoology, the basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera; the basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera; the terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and other allied birds; the claw of a mammal, bird, or reptile.

(4) Historically, in England, a round pedestal on which merchants once carried out their business.

(5) A measure for a length for cloth, equal to 2¼ inches (57 mm) or 1⁄20 of an ell; 1⁄16 of a yard (archaic); it’s assumed the origin lies in the use to mark that length on the end of a yardstick.

(6) To fasten with a nail or nails; to hemmer in a nail.

(7) To enclose or confine (something) by nailing (often followed by up or down).

(8) To make fast or keep firmly in one place or position (also used figuratively).

(8) Perfectly to accomplish something (usually as “nailed it”).

(9) In vulgar slang, of a male, to engage in sexual intercourse with (as “I nailed her” or (according to Urban Dictionary: “I nailed the bitch”).

(10) In law enforcement, to catch a suspect or find them in possession of contraband or engaged in some unlawful conduct (usually as “nailed them”).

(11) In Christianity, as “the nails”, the relics used in the crucifixion, nailing Christ to the cross at Golgotha.

(12) As a the nail (unit), an archaic multiplier equal to one sixteenth of a base unit

(13) In drug slang, a hypodermic needle, used for injecting drugs.

(14) To detect and expose (a lie, scandal, etc)

(15) In slang, to hit someone.

(16) In slang, intently to focus on someone or something.

(17) To stud with or as if with nails.

Pre 900: From the Middle English noun nail & nayl, from the Old English nægl and cognate with the Old Frisian neil, the Old Saxon & Old High German nagal, the Dutch nagel, the German Nagel, the Old Norse nagl (fingernail), all of which were from the unattested Germanic naglaz.  As a derivative, it was akin to the Lithuanian nãgas & nagà (hoof), the Old Prussian nage (foot), the Old Church Slavonic noga (leg, foot), (the Serbo-Croatian nòga, the Czech noha, the Polish noga and the Russian nogá, all of which were probably originally a jocular reference to the foot as “a hoof”), the Old Church Slavonic nogŭtĭ, the Tocharian A maku & Tocharian B mekwa (fingernail, claw), all from the unattested North European Indo-European ənogwh-.  It was further akin to the Old Irish ingen, the Welsh ewin and the Breton ivin, from the unattested Celtic gwhīnā, the Latin unguis (fingernail, claw), from the unattested Italo-Celtic əngwhi-;the Greek ónyx (stem onych-), the Sanskrit ághri- (foot), from the unattested ághli-; the Armenian ełungn from the unattested onogwh-;the Middle English verbs naile, nail & nayle, the Old English næglian and cognate with the Old Saxon neglian, the Old High German negilen, the Old Norse negla, from the unattested Germanic nagl-janan (the Gothic was ganagljan).  The ultimate source was the primitive Indo-European h₃nog- (nail) and the use to describe the metal fastener was from the Middle English naylen, from the Old English næġlan & nægl (fingernail (handnægl)) & negel (tapering metal pin), from the Proto-Germanic naglaz (source also of Old Norse nagl (fingernail) & nagli (metal nail).  Nail is a noun & verb, nailernailless & naillike are adjectives, renail is a verbs, nailing is a noun & vern and nailed is a verb & adjective; the noun plural is nails.

Nail is modified or used as a modifier in literally dozens of examples including finger-nail, toe-nail, nail-brush, nail-file, rusty-nail, garden-nail, nail-fungus, nail-gun & frost-nail.  In idiomatic use, a “nail in one's coffin” is a experience or event that tends to shorten life or hasten the end of something (applied retrospectively (ie post-mortem) it’s usually in the form “final nail in the coffin”.  To be “hard as nails” is either to be “in a robust physical state” or “lacking in human feelings or without sentiment”. To “nail one's colors to the mast” is to declare one’s position on something.  Something described as “better than a poke in the eye with a rusty nail” is a thing, which while not ideal, is not wholly undesirable or without charm.  In financial matters (of payments), to be “on the nail” is to “pay at once”, often in the form “pay on the nail”.  To “nail something down” is to finalize it. To have “nailed it” is “to perfectly have accomplished something” while “nailed her” indicates “having enjoyed sexual intercourse with her”.  The “right” in the phrase “hit the nail right on the head” is a more recent addition, all known instances of use prior to 1700 being “hit the nail on the head” and the elegant original is much preferred.  It’s used to mean “correctly identify something or exactly to arrive at the correct answer”.  Interestingly, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) notes there is no documentary evidence that the phrase comes from “nail” in the sense of the ting hit by a hammer.

Double-headed nails.

Double-headed nails are used for temporary structures like fencing.  When the shaft is hammered in to the point where the surface of the lower head is flat against the surface of that into which it's being hammered, it leaves the upper head standing proud with just enough of the shaft exposed to allow a claw-hammer to be used to extract nail.  There is a story that as part of an environmental protest against the building or demolition of some structure (the tales vary), activists early one morning went to the temporary fencing around the contested site and hammered in all the double-headed nails.  This is believed to be an urban myth.

The sense of “fingernail” appears to be the original which makes sense give there were fingernails before there were spikes (of metal or any other material) used to build stuff.  The verb nail was from the Old English næglian (to fix or fasten (something) onto (something else) with nails), from the Proto-Germanic ganaglijan (the source also of the Old Saxon neglian, the Old Norse negla, the Old High German negilen, the German nageln and the Gothic ganagljan (to nail), all developed from the root of the nouns.  The colloquial meaning “secure, succeed in catching or getting hold of (someone or something)” was in use by at least the 1760; hence (hence the law enforcement slang meaning “to effect an arrest”, noted since the 1930s.  The meaning “to succeed in hitting” dates from 1886 while the phrase “to nail down” (to fix in place with nails) was first recorded in the 1660s.

Colors: Lindsay Lohan with nails unadorned and painted.

As a noun, “nail-biter” (worrisome or suspenseful event), perhaps surprisingly, seems not to have been in common use until 1999 an it’s applied to things from life-threatening situations to watching close sporting contests.  The idea of nail-biting as a sign of anxiety has been in various forms of literature since the 1570s, the noun nail-biting noted since 1805 and as a noun it was since the mid-nineteenth century applied to those individuals who “habitually or compulsively bit their fingernails” although this seems to have been purely literal rather than something figurative of a mental state.  Now, a “nail-biter” is one who is “habitually worried or apprehensive” and they’re often said to be “chewing the ends of their fingernails” and in political use, a “nail biter” is a criticism somewhat less cutting than “bed-wetter”.  The condition of compulsive nail-biting is the noun onychophagia, the construct being onycho- (a creation of the international scientific vocabulary), reflecting a New Latin combining form, from the Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux) (claw, nail, hoof, talon) +‎ -phagia (eating, biting or swallowing), from the Ancient Greek -φαγία (-phagía).  A related form was -φαγος (-phagos) (eater), the suffix corresponding to φαγεῖν (phageîn) (to eat), the infinitive of ἔφαγον (éphagon) (I eat), which serves as aorist (essentially a compensator for sense-shifts) (for the defective verb ἐσθίω (esthíō) (I eat).  Bitter-tasting nail-polish is available for those who wish to cure themselves.  Nail-polish as a product dates from the 1880s and was originally literally a clear substance designed to give the finger or toe-nails a varnish like finish upon being buffed.  By 1884, it was being sold as “liquid nail varnish” including shads of black, pink and red although surviving depictions in art suggests men and women in various cultures have for thousands of years been coloring their nails.  Nail-files (small, flat, single-cut file for trimming the fingernails) seem first to have been sold in 1819 and nail-clippers (hand-tool used to trim the fingernails and toenails) in 1890.

Francis (1936-2025; pope 2013-2025) at the funeral of Cardinal George Pell (1941-2023), St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican, January 2023.

The expression "nail down the lid" is a reference to the lid of a coffin (casket), the implication being one wants to make doubly certain anyone within can't possible "return from the dead".  The noun doornail (also door-nail) (large-headed nail used for studding batten doors for strength or ornament) emerged in the late fourteenth century and was often used of many large, thick nails with a large head, not necessarily those used only in doors.  The figurative expression “dead as a doornail” seems to be as old as the piece of hardware and use soon extended to “dumb as a doornail” and “deaf as a doornail).  The noun hangnail (also hang-nail) is a awful as it sounds and describes a “sore strip of partially detached flesh at the side of a nail of the finger or toe” and appears in seventeenth century texts although few etymologists appear to doubt it’s considerably older and probably a folk etymology and sense alteration of the Middle English agnail & angnail (corn on the foot), from the Old English agnail & angnail.  The origin is likely to have been literally the “painful spike” in the flesh when suffering the condition.  The first element was the Proto-Germanic ang- (compressed, hard, painful), from the primitive Indo-European root angh- (tight, painfully constricted, painful); the second the Old English nægl (spike), one of the influences on “nail”.  The noun hobnail was a “short, thick nail with a large head” which dates from the 1590s, the first element probably identical with hob (rounded peg or pin used as a mark or target in games (noted since the 1580s)) of unknown origin.  Because hobnails were hammered into the leather soles of heavy boots and shoes, “hobnail” came in the seventeenth century to be used of “a rustic person” though it was though less offensive than forms like “yokel”.

Nails and pins

Mug shot “pin” from TeePublic featuring Lindsay Lohan (b 1986, left), Donald Trump (b 1946; POTUS 2017-2021 and since 2025) and Paris Hilton (b 1981, right).  In this context, although the product really is “the badge”, the name was gained from the built-in pin supplied to secure the object to clothing.

As designs, a nail and a pin are similar, obviously differing only in scale but the function of each is different.  A nail’s primary purpose is to function as a structural fastener joining materials (most typically two or more pieces of wood) although there are specialized nails driven into substrate by impact (variously with hammers or nail guns (sometimes called “pin-nailers”, some of which are built to fire “panel pins” (very slender nails) or small “headless nails”).  A nail relies on friction and compression in the surrounding material for its holding strength.  Pins look like scaled-down nails but mostly are used for alignment, retention or pivoting, rather than structural load-bearing.  Because of their more delicate construction, pins often are inserted through specific-purpose, pre-existing holes and in many cases are intended to be temporary and are thus removable.  Visually, both nails and pins have heads (round, flat, clipped etc) and a tapered shank with a tip pointed for pointed tip for penetration (“snub-nosed” nails do exist but are rare) and both are designed slightly to deform the surrounding material when driven.  The most obvious difference is that a pin’s head is very small and some are spherical and made from plastic; they’re designed only to be pushed with finger-pressure rather than being hit with a hammer.  Although the term “pin” is used for some specialized devices used in building and engineering (dowel pin, pivot pin, gudgeon pin (also as wrist pin), roll pin, cotter pin etc), the word is most associated with the tailor’s pin (used mostly in textiles and usually clipped to “pin”).  In jewelry design and textiles there are also variants including the “lapel pin” and the fashion industry’s device of last resort, the “safety pin”.

Pinhead in publicity shot for Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992).

Clive Barker's (b 1952) supernatural horror movie Hellraiser (1987) was based on his novella The Hellbound Heart (1986) and was a surprise hit, making it a franchise which has thus far spawned nine sequels, the most recent released in 2022.  The plot involved a mysterious puzzle box that, when opened, summoned the Cenobites, a group of extra-dimensional, sadomasochistic beings unable to differentiate between pain and pleasure.  It was a good premise for a horror movie but the character who really captured the audience's imagination was the unnamed figure viewers dubbed “Pinhead”.  Although Pinhead appeared in the original film for fewer than ten minutes, the character became the franchise’s focal point and has since dominated the publicity material for subsequent releases.  The popularity of Hellraiser has been maintained and it’s hoped that for the next release the producers will offer the part to Peter Dutton (b 1970; leader of the Liberal Party of Australia 2022-2025).

Peter Dutton captured by a photographer during a happy moment (left), Pinhead with the box able to summon the Cenobites (centre) and and artist's depiction of Mr Dutton in “Pinhead mode” (digitally altered image, right).

No longer burdened with tiresome parliamentary duties since losing his seat in the 2025 Australian general election, Mr Dutton has time for a third career and he should be good at playing an unsmiling character who speaks in a relentless monotone; really, all he need do is act naturally.  It’s suspected also he’ll be good at learning a script given the decades he spent parroting “talking points” and TWS (three word slogans).  While it’s an urban myth Mr Dutton wasn’t offered the part of Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter movie franchise because he was deemed “too scary”, as Pinhead he’d be “just scary enough”.  While the LNP (Liberal National Party) state government in Queensland recently has appointed Mr Dutton to the board of the QIC (Queensland Investment Corporation, the investment manager of the state’s Aus$135 billion in assets), it’s understood his duties in the Aus$130,000 per annum role will be neither onerous or time-consuming so there’ll be ample opportunity for film-shoots.  Although when in opposition the LNP had decried the ALP (Australian Labor Party) government’s frequent appointment of ALP figures to lucrative sinecures, once in office the LNP continued the “jobs for the boys” tradition.  In the modern era, the two most striking characteristics of right-wing fanatics is (1) a fondness for sitting safely in a bunker while advocating for (and sometimes sending) other people's children to go a fight a war somewhere and (2) after a career spent extolling the virtues of “private enterprise” and criticizing “government waste”, being anxious to get back on the public payroll as soon as their political careers end.  Reassuringly for taxpayers who may have been worried Mr Dutton would not be able to continue to enjoy the lifestyle to which their taxes made him accustomed (“entitled” as he might have put it), it’s believed his director’s fees from QIC will not affect his parliamentary pension (understood to be between Aus$260,000-Aus$280,000 per annum).

The Buick Nailhead

In the 1930s, the straight-8 became a favorite for manufacturers of luxury cars, attracted by its ease of manufacture (components and assembly-line tooling able to be shared with those used to produce a straight-6), the mechanical smoothness inherent in the layout and the ease of maintenance afforded by the long, narrow configuration, ancillary components readily accessible.  However, the limitations were the relatively slow engine speeds imposed by the need to restrict the “crankshaft flex” and the height of the units, a product of the long strokes used to gain the required displacement.  By the 1950s, it was clear the future lay in big-bore, overhead valve V8s although the Mercedes-Benz engineers, unable to forget the glory days of the 1930s when the straight-eight W125s built for the Grand Prix circuits generated power and speed Formula One wouldn’t see until the 1980s, noted the relatively small 2.5 litre (153 cubic inch) displacement limit for 1954 and conjured up a final fling for the layout.  Used in both Formula One as the W196R and in sports car racing as the W196S (better remembered as the 300 SLR) the new 2.5 & 3.0 litre (183 cubic inch) straight-8s, unlike their pre-war predecessors, solved the issue of crankshaft flex (the W196's redline was 9500 compared with the W125's 5800) by locating the power take-off at the centre, adding mechanical fuel-injection and a desmodromic valve train to make the things an exotic cocktail of ancient & modern (on smooth racetracks and in the hands of skilled drivers, the swing axles at the back not the liability they might sound).  Dominant during 1954-1955 in both Formula One & the World Sports Car Championship, they were the last of the straight-8s in top-line competition.

Schematic of Buick “Nailhead” V8, 1953-1966.

Across the Atlantic, the US manufacturers also abandoned their straight-8s.  Buick introduced their overhead valve (OHV) V8 in 1953 but, being much wider than before, the new engine had to be slimmed somewhere to fit between the existing inner-fenders (it would not be until later the platform was widened).  To achieve this, the engineers narrowed the cylinder heads, compelling both a conical (the so-called “pent-roof”) combustion chamber and an arrangement in which the sixteen valves pointed directly upwards on the intake side, something which not only demanded an unusual pushrod & rocker mechanism but also limited the size of the valves.  So, the valves had to be tall and narrow and, with some resemblance to nails, they picked up the nickname “nail valves”, morphing eventually to “nailhead” as a description of the whole engine.  The valve placement and angle certainly benefited the intake side but the geometry compromised the flow of exhaust gases which were compelled by their anyway small ports to make a turn of almost 180^o on their way to the tailpipe.  As an indication of the heat-soak generated by that 180^o turn, the surrounding water passages were very wide. 

It wasn't the last time the head design of a Detroit V8 would be dictated by considerations of width.  When Chrysler in 1964 introduced the 273 cubic inch (4.5 litre) V8 as the first of its LA-Series (that would begat the later 318 (5.2), 340 (5.5) & 360 (5.9) as well as the V10 made famous in the Dodge Viper), the most obvious visual difference from the earlier A-Series V8s was the noticeably smaller cylinder heads.  The A engines used as skew-type valve arrangement in which the exhaust valve was parallel to the bore with the intake valve tipped toward the intake manifold (the classic polyspherical chamber).  For the LA, Chrysler rendered all the valves tipped to the intake manifold and in-line (as viewed from the front), the industry’s standard approach to a wedge combustion chamber.  The reason for the change was that the decision had been taken to offer the compact Valiant with a V8 but it was a car which had been designed to accommodate only a straight-six and the wide-shouldered polyspheric head A-Series V8s simply wouldn’t fit.  So, essentially, wedge-heads were bolted atop the old A-Series block but the “L” in LA stood for light and the engineers wanted something genuinely lighter for the compact (in contemporary US terms) Valiant.  Accordingly, in addition to the reduced size of the heads and intake manifold, a new casting process was developed for the block (the biggest, heaviest part of an engine) which made possible thinner walls.  "Light" is however a relative term and the LA series was notably larger and heavier than Ford's "Windsor" V8 (1961-2000) which was the exemplar of the "thin-wall" technique.  This was confirmed in 1967 when, after taking control of Rootes Group, Chrysler had intended to continue production of the Sunbeam Tiger, by then powered by the Ford Windsor 289 (4.7 litre) but with Chrysler’s 273 LA V8 substituted.  Unfortunately, while 4.7 Ford litres filled it to the brim, 4.4 Chrysler litres overflowed; the Windsor truly was compact.  Allowing it to remain in production until the stock of already purchased Ford engines had been exhausted, Chrysler instead changed the advertising from emphasizing the “…mighty Ford V8 power plant” to the vaguely ambiguous “…an American V-8 power train”.

322 cubic inch Nailhead in 1953 Buick Skylark convertible (left) and 425 cubic inch Nailhead in 1966 Buick Riviera GS (with dual-quad MZ package, right).  Note the “Wildcat 465” label on the air cleaner, a reference to the claimed torque rating, something most unusual, most manufacturers using the space to advertise horsepower or cubic inch displacement (CID).

The nailhead wasn’t ideal for producing top-end power but the design did generate prodigious low-end torque, something much appreciated by Buick's previous generation of buyers who much had relished the low-speed responsiveness of the famously smooth straight-8.  However, like everybody else, Buick hadn’t anticipated that as the 1950s unfolded, the industry would engage in a “power race”, something to which the free-breathing Cadillac V8s and Chrysler’s Hemis were well-suited.  For that, the somewhat strangulated Buick Nailhead was not at all suited and to gain power the engineers were compelled to add high-lift, long-duration camshafts which enabled the then magic 300 HP (horsepower) number to be achieved but at the expense of smoothness; tales of Buick buyers (long accustomed to straight-8s that ran so smoothly at idle it could be hard to tell if the things were running) returning to the dealer to fix the “rumpity-rump” became legion.  Still, the Nailhead was robust, relatively light and offered what was then a generous displacement and the ever inventive hot-rod community soon worked out the path to power was to use forced induction and invert the valve use, the supercharger blowing the fuel-air mix into the combustion chambers through the exhaust ports while the exhaust gases were evacuated through the larger intake ports.  Thus, for a while, the Nailhead enjoyed a role as a niche player although the arrival in the mid 1950s of the much more tuneable Chevrolet V8s ended the vogue for all but a few devotees who continued use well into the 1960s.  Buick acknowledged reality and, unusually, instead of following the industry trend and drawing attention to displacement & power, publicized their big torque numbers, confusing some (though probably not Buick buyers who were a loyal crew who sometimes would look down on more expensive Cadillacs because they were "flashy").  The unique appearance of the old Nailhead retains some nostalgic appeal for the modern hot-rod community and they do sometimes appear, a welcome change from the more typical small-block Fords or Chevrolets.

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (1964-1999).

Not confused about numbers was the USAF (United States Air Force) which was much interested in power for its aircraft but also had a special need for torque on the tarmac and briefly that meant another quirky niche for the Nailhead.  The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (1964-1979) was a long-range, high-altitude supersonic (Mach 3+) aircraft used by the USAF for reconnaissance between 1966-1998 and by the NASA (National Aeronautics & Space Administration) for observation missions as late as 1999.  Something of a high-water mark among the extraordinary advances made in aeronautics and materials construction during the Cold War, the SR-71 used Pratt & Whitney J58 turbojet engines which featured an innovative, secondary air-injection system for the afterburner, permitting additional thrust at high speed.  The SR-71 still holds a number of altitude and speed records and Lockheed’s SR-72, a hypersonic unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is said to be in an “advanced stage” of design and construction although whether any test flights will be conducted before 2030 remains unclear, the challenges of sustaining in the atmosphere velocities as high as Mach 6+ onerous given the heat generated and stresses imposed by the the fluid dynamics of air at high speed.

Drawing from user manual for AG330 starter cart (left) and AG330 starter cart with dual Buick Nailhead V8s (right).

At the time, the SR-71 was the most exotic aircraft on the planet but during testing and early in its career, just for the engines to start it relied on a pair of even then technologically bankrupt Buick Nailhead V8s.  These were mounted in a towed cart and were effectively the turbojet’s starter motor, a concept developed in the 1930s as a work-around for the technology gap which emerged as the V12 aero-engines became too big to start by hand but lacked on-board electrical systems to trigger ignition.  The two Nailheads were connected by gears to a single, vertical drive shaft which ran the jet up to the critical speed at which ignition became self-sustaining.  The engineers chose the Nailheads after comparing them to other large displacement V8s, the aspect of the Buicks which most appealed being the torque generated at relatively low engine speeds, a characteristic ideal for driving an output shaft, torque best visualized as a "twisting" force.  After the Nailhead was retired in 1966, later carts used Chevrolet big-block V8s but in 1969 a pneumatic start system was added to the infrastructure of the USAF bases from which the SR-71s most frequently operated, the sixteen-cylinder carts relegated to secondary fields the planes rarely used.