Pheasant

Pheasant (pronounced fez-uhnt)

(1) Any of various long-tailed gallinaceous birds of the family Phasianidae, especially Phasianus colchicus (ring-necked pheasant), having a brightly-coloured plumage in the male: native to Asia but now widely dispersed.

(2) Any of various other gallinaceous birds of the family Phasianidae, including the quails and partridges

(3) Any of several other gallinaceous birds, especially the ruffed grouse.

(4) The meat of such a bird, served as food.

1250–1300: From the Middle English fesaunt & fesant, from the Anglo-French fesaunt, from the Old French fesan, from the Latin phāsiānus, from the Ancient Greek φᾱσιανός (phāsiānós órnis) (Phasian bird; bird of the river Φᾶσις (Phâsis (in Colchis in the Caucauses were the birds existed in prolific number)), named after the River Phasis, in which flows into the Black Sea at Colchis in the Caucauses.  It replaced the native Old English wōrhana, a variant of mōrhana.  The ph- from the Greek was restored in English by the late fourteenth century while the wholly unetymological -t exists because of confusion with –ant (a suffix of nouns, formed from present participle of verbs in first Latin conjugation (ancient, pageant, tyrant, peasant; also talaunt, a former Middle English variant of talon, etc.).  The Latin was the source also of the Spanish faisan, the Portuguese feisão, the German Fasan and the Russian bazhantu; the Welsh was ffesant and the Cornish fesont.  In England, Pheasant was used as surname from the mid-twelfth century (and assumed occupational (pheasant farmer)).  The form in the Medieval Latin was fasianus.  A pheasantry is a place for keeping and rearing pheasants and the most common collective noun for a group of pheasants is bevy (less commonly a bouquet (when flushed), or nye.  Pheasant & pheasantry are nouns, pheasantless & pheasantlike are adjectives; the noun plural is pheasants.

The golden pheasants

Chrysolophus pictus (the golden pheasant or Chinese pheasant).

There are more than two dozen taxonomic species within the family Phasianidae (pheasants), one of which is the golden pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus, known also as the “Chinese pheasant”), a game bird native to the forests of mountainous areas of western China.  The plumage of the males is famously vibrant which makes it a favorite among bird watchers and photographers while the female is a duller-mottled brown plumage, something common among many avian species including the peacock & peahen, the evolutionary advantage being the fine camouflage it afforded against the forest floor.

Nazi Kreisleiter (District Leader) standard four pocket open collar tunic (circa 1940).  The party’s regulations about uniforms first appeared in 1920 and the details were often revised until things were standardized in 1939.

In the Third Reich (1933-1945) the term Goldfasane (golden pheasants) was a derisive nickname used of high-ranking members of the Nazi Party (and their wives), the name an allusion to (1) the golden hue of the fabric of the party uniform, (2) their tendency to appear well fed (al la a plump pheasant fattened for slaughter) at a time when much of the population was living under food rationing and (3) their ostentation and self-importance (likened to a colorful and strutting pheasant).  That brown became the "official" color of the party  wasn't a kind of proto-1970s fashion choice.  When Germany lost its African and tropical Pacific colonies after World War I (1914-1948), a huge stock of khaki uniforms and other kit became available as "army-surplus" and these the party purchased at low cost.  As time progressed and the uniforms came to be tailored, as a general principle, the more exalted the office, the more golden the shade of fabric used for the garb.  Even the party headquarters in Munich became known as the Braunes Haus (Brown House) and the symbolism of its destruction in 1943 by Allied bombing wasn't lost on the local population although the British, even then sensitive to criticism of "area bombing" of civilian targets, made little attempt to exploit the success for propaganda purposes.  On the site of the long-demolished Braunes Haus, the Bavarian government in 2015 opened the NS-Dokumentationszentrum (NSDOKU, the Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism), a  museum with a focus on the history and consequences of the National Socialist (Nazi) regime and the role of Munich as its Hauptstadt der Bewegung (capital of the movement).  

Portrait of Auguste Escoffier.

The decoration is the Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur (National Order of the Legion of Honour, France’s highest order of merit, awarded to both civilians and the military.  It was established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821; leader of the French Republic 1799-1804 & Emperor of the French from 1804-1814 & 1815)).  In the internal logic of French culture it was a wholly appropriate honor for a chef though to the south not all would have approved: Benito Mussolini (1883-1945; Duce (leader) & Prime-Minister of Italy 1922-1943) had expressed his disgust at the decadence of the modern Italian people, believing they had been seduced by French ways into “elevating cooking to the status of high art”, declaring he would never allow Italy to descend to the level of France, a country ruined by “alcohol, syphilis and journalism”.

The Brigade de cuisine (kitchen brigade) was a hierarchical organizational chart for commercial kitchens, codified from earlier practices by French chef, Georges-Auguste Escoffier (1846–1935) who, following his service in the French army, had refined and codified the the kitchen structure which had existed since the fourteenth century.  The military-type chain-of-command became formalized but what was novel was what he dubbed the chef de partie system, an organizational model based on sections which were both geographically and functionally defined.  His design was intended to avoid duplication of effort and facilitate communication.  The economic realities of technological innovation, out-sourcing to external supply chains and the changing ratio of labour costs to revenue have meant even the largest modern kitchens now use a truncated version of the Escoffien system although the sectional chef de partie structure remains.  In the pre-modern era, Escoffier’s idealized structure was adopted only in the largest of exclusive establishments or the grandest of cruise liners and, like the Edwardian household, is a footnote in sociological, organizational and economic history.  In the late 1870s, after army service of some seven years, Monsieur Escoffier opened his own restaurant in Cannes.  It was called Le Faisan d'Or (The Golden Pheasant).

Kiji-shō (きじ章; Order of the Golden Pheasant).

There is also the Golden Pheasant Award (きじ章 (kiji-shō) or 金鳳賞 (Kinpōshō)), the highest award for adult leaders in the Scout Association of Japan and although it was first conferred in 1952, there’s no record of whether the earlier sardonic German slang was discussed when deciding on a name.  Officially awarded by the Chief Scout of Japan, recipients are chosen by a selection committee (an institution at which the Japanese excel) on the basis of their eminent achievement and meritorious service to the Association for a period of at least twenty years.  Most awards have been granted to Japanese citizens but the distinction may be granted to any member of a scout association affiliated with the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM).  The golden pheasant has symbolic significance in Japanese culture, where pheasants (particularly the green pheasant (Phasianus versicolor), Japan's national bird) have been revered for their grace and connection to nature and they convey an aura of prestige and distinction due to the majestic appearance.  The award consists of a medallion depicting a stylized golden pheasant, suspended from a white ribbon with two red stripes worn around the neck.  The attendant uniform ribbon (worn above the left breast pocket), consists of two red stripes on a white background with a 5 mm golden device of the Japanese scout emblem.

Lindsay Lohan with an honorary Order of the Golden Pheasant.  (Digitally altered image from Flaunt Issue 195, November 2024, original photograph by the Morelli Brothers).

It is of course a great honor to join the exclusive club of those with a Golden Pheasant but the evidence does suggest it’s something of a kiss of political death for those statesmen (Golden Pheasants a male thing) so dubbed, their careers ending often not well.  Richard Nixon (1913-1994; US president 1969-1974) was awarded his in 1953 during a visit to Japan while VPOTUS (vice-president of the US (an office he held 1953-1961), the brief ceremony conducted in Tokyo after his luncheon address to the America-Japan Society.  In 1974, Mr Nixon was forced to resign the presidency after revelations of his conduct during the Watergate Scandal.

Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (1919–1980; the last Shah of Iran 1941-1979) gained his Golden Pheasant in 1957.  In 1979 he was overthrown in the revolution which brought to power Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1900-1989; Supreme Leader, Islamic Republic of Iran, 1979-1989) and the establishment of the Islamic Republic.  Also honored in the same year was Sir Walter Nash (1882–1968; prime-minister of New Zealand 1957-1960); he lost the 1960 general election and never regained power.  A royal recipient was Constantine II (1940–2023; the last King of Greece 1964-1973) who was honored upon assuming the throne in 1964.  Constantine was forced into exile after a military putsch in 1967 (the so-called “Colonels' Coup”) and the monarchy was abolished in 1973, something confirmed by two subsequent referenda (1973 & 1974).

Golden Pheasant aspirant: A Japanese scout pack leader (left) with his pack of cub scouts, circa 1964.

Gerald Ford (1913–2006; US president 1974-1977) was in 1974 created a Golden Pheasant (while VPOTUS) and he went on to lose the 1976 presidential election.  He did however have the satisfaction of knowing not only did the man who beat him (Jimmy Carter (b 1924; US President 1977-1981)) never become a Golden Pheasant, but also turned out to be “a bit of a turkey”.  Paras Bir Bikram Shahdev (b 1971; last Crown Prince of Nepal, heir apparent to the throne 2001-2008) became a Golden Pheasant in 2005.  In 2001, there was what is now an uncommon act of regicide known as the Durbar Hatyakanda (Nepalese royal massacre) which was actually a family squabble, the assassin of nine members of the dynasty (including the king & queen) being Crown Prince Dipendra (1971-2001) who, by virtue of the constitutional arrangements, for three days reigned while in a coma before succumbing to a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  Subsequently, there was a peaceful transition to a republic and in 2008 the world’s last Hindu monarchy was abolished.  Ronald Reagan (1911-2004; US president 1981-1989) was the last POTUS to become a recipient and his second term was tainted by Iran-Contragate affair.  Given the history, it may be the State Department has instructed the ambassador to Tokyo quietly to inform the chief scout presidents prefer not to become Golden Pheasants and perhaps a gift like a ceremonial woggle would be more appropriate.

Yoshirō Mori san OGP (centre) meeting the official mascots (boy in blue, girl in pink) for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, Tokyo, 2018.  While serving as president of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, an international human rights advocacy group awarded him a “gold medal” for sexism after he complained women members of the committee “talked too much” due to their “strong sense of rivalry”: “If one says something, they all end up saying something.”

Yoshirō Mori (森 喜朗, Mori Yoshirō san, b 1937; prime minister of Japan 2000-2001) actually anticipated the “curse of the Golden Pheasant” leaving office after a gaff-prone two year term some time before he gained the award in 2003.  Mori san was notable for his consistently low approval ratings while prime-minister and most public opinion polls towards the end of his tenure hovered between 7-12% of Japanese voters having a positive view of his premiership.  However, one newspaper published a poll which reported he had a zero (0%) rating, believed to be the lowest suffered by any politician since polling became (more-or-less) scientific in the 1940s.  It can’t have been much fun for Mori san at breakfast; he’d have just started to enjoy his gohan (steamed rice), misoshiru (miso soup) yakizakana (grilled fish), tsukemono (pickled vegetables), tamagoyaki (rolled omelette) and ryokucha (green tea), only to open the morning paper and find out nobody in the country liked him.  Still, as a consolation, Mori san has his Golden Pheasant.

Pheasant wars: A golden pheasant and a Lady Amherst's pheasant contesting occupancy of a rock.

Pheasant Plucking

The pheasant features in a favorite schoolboy rhyme, said to have origins in an eighteenth century English village where it was composed by Elias, a wandering bard performing at one of the hamlet's “grand pheasant festivals”; he’d been much impressed by the efficient and rhythmic plucking of pheasants by champion pheasant plucker Tom Fletcher.  Whether or not that story is true isn’t known but it (and other variations) is a common tale.  In its modern form the tongue-twister appears usually as:

I'm not the pheasant plucker,
I'm only the pheasant plucker's son,
But I'll keep on plucking pheasants
'Till the pheasant plucker comes.

The verse was soon as much a part of the festivals as the pheasant plucking proper and was popular drinking game, those making a mistake during a recital having to drink a pint of ale before having another attempt.  The extended version read:

I'm not a pheasant plucker,
I'm a pheasant plucker's mate,
And I'm only plucking pheasants
'cause the pheasant plucker's late.
 
Plucking pheasants is a pleasure
when the pheasant plucker's near,
But when pheasants pluck at pheasants,
then the plucking's rather queer.
 
So, if I'm plucking pheasants,
where the pleasant pheasants roam,
I'll pluck enough for supper
till the pheasant plucker's home.
 
And when the pheasant plucker comes,
we'll pluck them side by side,
Through pleasant plains and pheasant fields
where pheasants love to hide.

Dagger

Dagger (pronounced dag-er)

(1) A short, double-edged weapon with a pointed blade and a handle, used historically for personal protection in close combat (although some were weighted for throwing), but since the development of side-arms, increasing only for ceremonial purposes (many produced without sharpened edges).

(2) In typography a mark (†) used to indicate a cross reference, especially a footnote (also called obelisk).  The double dagger (‡) is also used.

(3) In sport and military strategy, a offence which thrusts deep into opposition territory on a short front.

(4) In glaciology, the long, conical ice-formations formed from drops of water (al la the stalactites in caves).

(5) In the slang of clinical medicine, anything that causes pain like a stabbing injury (typically, some sort of barb)

(6) In basketball & American football, a point scored near the end of the game (clutch time) to take or increase the scorer's team lead.

(7) In nautical architecture, as daggerboard, a retractable centre-board that slides out to act as a keel; a timber placed diagonally in a ship's frame.

(8) To stab with a dagger or similar bladed weapon (archaic).

(9) In typography, to mark with a dagger (obelisk).

1380s: From the Middle English daggere, daggare & dagard, probably an adaptation from the thirteenth century Old French dague (dagger), from the Old Provençal or Italian daga of obscure origin but related to the Occitan, Italian & Spanish daga, the Dutch dagge, the German Degen, the Middle Low German dagge (knife's point), the Old Norse daggarðr, the Danish daggert, the Faroese daggari, the Welsh dager & dagr, the Breton dac and the Albanian thikë (a knife, dagger) & thek (to stab, to pierce with a sharp object).  Etymologists have speculated on the source of dagger, some suggesting a Celtic origin.  Others prefer the unattested Vulgar Latin daca & dacian (knife) (the name from the Roman province), from the Classical Latin adjective dācus while an entry in an eighteenth century French dictionary held the French dague was from the German dagge & dagen (although not attested until much later).  More speculatively still is the notion of some link with the Old Armenian դակու (daku) (adze, axe), an alternative to which is some connection with the primitive Indo-European dāg-u-, suggesting something cognate with the Ancient Greek θήγω (thḗgō) (to sharpen, whet).  Dagger is a noun & verb, daggering is a noun & verb, daggerman & daggerpoint are nouns, daggerlike is an adjective and daggered is a verb; the noun plural is daggers.

Daggers drawn: Lindsay Lohan (b 1986, left) and Vanessa Lachey (née Minnillo, b 1980, right), staged shot, June, 2007.

The association of the dagger with knightly weaponry can be traced back to French writings in the twelfth century while the other Middle Latin forms included daga, dagga, dagha, dagger, daggerius, daggerium, dagarium, dagarius & diga (the words with the -r- being late fourteenth century adoptions of the English word.  The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) lists an English verb dag (to stab) from which dagger as a verb could be derived but the verb is attested only from the turn of the fifteenth century.  Long used as a weapon of personal protection, skilled sixteenth & seventeenth century swordsmen would use one in their other (usually left) hand to parry thrusts from the opponent's rapier.  It was a high-risk technique.  The use in texts as a reference mark (also called the obelisk) dates from 1706.  The wonderfully named “bollock dagger” was a dagger with a distinctively shaped shaft having two oval swellings at the guard resembling the male testes (the polite term was “kidney dagger”).  An “ear dagger” was used in the late medieval period and gained the name from its distinctive, ear-shaped pommel.  In slang, to be “stabbed with a Bridport dagger” was to be executed by hanging, the origin of that being the district of Bridport in Dorset being a major producer of the hemp fibre used in the production of the ropes used by hangmen.  In idiomatic use, to “look daggers at” is to stare at someone angrily or threateningly, something one would do if “at daggers drawn” (in a state of open hostility) with them.

Lindsay Lohan in stiletto heels, February 2009.  Whether much would have changed in the fashion business if the style of heel had come to be known as "dagger" instead of "stiletto" is unlikely.

Other names for the short bladed weapon included stiletto & poniard.  Stiletto was from the Italian stiletto; doublet of stylet, the construct being stil(o) (dagger or needle (from the Latin stilus (stake, pens))) + -etto (-ette).  From the Latin stilus came also stelo, an inherited doublet.  Stilus was from the primitive Indo-European (s)teyg- (related to instīgō & instigare) and was cognate with the Ancient Greek στίζω (stízō) (to mark with a pointed instrument) and the Proto-Germanic stikaną (to stick, to stab).  Despite the similarity, there’s no relationship with the Ancient Greek στῦλος (stûlos) (a pillar).  The -etto suffix was from the Late Latin -ittum, accusative singular of –ittus and was an alternative suffix used to form melioratives, diminutives and hypocoristics.  The noun plural is either stilettos or stilettoes and stilettolike (appearing also as stiletto-like) is an adjective.  A technical adoption in law-enforcement and judicial reports were the verb-forms stilettoed & stilettoing, referring to a stabbing or killing with a stiletto-like blade.  It was a popular description used by police when documenting the stabbing by wives of husbands or boyfriends with scissors or kitchen knives; use faded in the early twentieth century.  The use of “stiletto heel” to describe the elegant, narrow high heel in women's shoes dates from as recently as 1953.  Poniard (a dagger or other short, stabbing weapon) dates from the 1580s and was from the early sixteenth century French poinard, from the Old French poignal (dagger (literally “anything grasped with the fist”)), from poing (fist), from the Latin pungus (a fist (a pugio being “a dagger”)), from a suffixed form of the primitive Indo-European root peuk- (to prick).  It’s thought it was probably altered in French by association with poindre (to stab).  It was used a verb from the turn of the seventeenth century in the sense of “to stab with or as if with a poniard”.

Hermann Göring (1893–1946; leading Nazi 1922-1945, Adolf Hitler' (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945) designated successor & Reichsmarschall 1940-1945) in Luftwaffe general’s uniform with Model 1935 Luftwaffe ceremonial dagger.

The dagger was the standard 1935 issue for Luftwaffe officers.  Updated in 1937 and fashioned always with a 260 mm (10¼ inch) blade, the pommel and crossguard were aluminum, bearing the swastika (occasionally finished in anodized gold) on the pommel face with a Luftwaffe flighted eagle and swastika on the crossguard.  The grips were celluloid over a wood base and in various production runs they were finished in colors ranging from pure white to a deep orange.  The scabbards were all in anodized grayish blue steel with a striped decoration on the body face with an oak leaf pattern on the face of the drag.  Worn suspended from straps bearing twin silver stripes on a dark grayish blue background with square buckles, it featured a short aluminum cord knot.  In an example of the expanding list of recipients entitled to wear a dagger, after 1940, authorization was extended to non-commissioned officers though without the portepee (the sword-knot which denoted an officer’s right to bear a sword).  Although it's not clear why, the 1935 Luftwaffe dagger was apparently the template for a range of similar items commissioned by the foreign ministry to used as gifts for one reason or another.  Many embassies and other overseas delegations received them although if there were guidelines suggesting how they were to be allocated, no copies are known to have survived.  The ones ordered for diplomatic use were genuine replicas of the shape and construction (although embellished with symbols of the state or Nazi party rather than anything military) but the manufacturer also did a line of miniatures in display cases and even some letter-openers (!) which seem to have been a purely commercial product rather than anything official although, adorned with the swastika, in the nature of the way things happened in the Third Reich, a commission likely was paid to someone.      

Cheryl sees Hermann Göring: This fragment is from the opening sequences for one of the television shows of English comedian Alexei Sayle (b 1952), a left-wing activist most active during the administration of Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013; UK prime-minister 1979-1990) when there was much for such folk about which to be active.  His depictions of Benito Mussolini (1883-1945; Duce (leader) & Prime-Minister of Italy 1922-1943) were in the absurdist tradition and very well done.

General Alexander Patch (1889–1945, left), Harry S Truman (1884–1972; US president 1945-1953, centre) and General Lucian Truscott (1895–1965, right) inspecting Göring’s Reichsmarschall baton, Washington DC, 1945.

Göring’s baton would be replaced with an even more extravagant, jewel-encrusted creation when in 1940 he was appointed Reichsmarschall (a sort of “six star general” although really a sop to his vanity because at the same time Hitler created a dozen field marshals in recognition of the Wehrmacht’s success in the Western campaigns in 1940) and it's now on display in the US Army's West Point Museum at Highland Falls, New York.  Convicted of by the IMT (international Military Tribunal) at the first Nuremberg Trial (1945-1946 1946) on all four counts ((1) conspiracy to wage aggressive war, (2) waging aggressive war, (3) war crimes & (4) crimes against humanity, Göring was sentenced to be hanged but, shortly before the scheduled hour, he committed suicide by crushing between his teeth an ampule of a potassium cyanide (KCN), smuggled into his cell in circumstances never confirmed.  For decades it was not uncommon for historians to refer to Göring taking “prussic acid” (the older name for hydrogen cyanide (HCN)) but while they’re related, KCN is the potassium salt of HCN: KCN is a stable storage form of cyanide, while HCN is a volatile liquid or gas.

Daggers out: The Night of the Long Knives

Germans have long adored uniforms and especially prized are the accessories, among the most distinctive of which are ceremonial daggers.  During the Third Reich, a period in which many institutions of state were increasingly re-ordered along military lines, the issuing of ceremonial daggers was at its most widespread and in addition to the expected recipients in the army, navy & air force, the SS, the SA, the Hitlerjugend (the HJ, (Hitler Youth)), the diplomatic service and the police, they were also part of the uniforms of organizations such as the fire department, the postal & telegraph service, the forest service, the labor service, the customs service the railway & waterways protective service and the miners association.  While it’s true that in Germany daggers had in the past been issued even to civilians, under the Nazis the scale and scope proliferated and they seem to have exerted a particular fascination within the ranks of the SS.

The SS (ᛋᛋ in Armanen runes; Schutzstaffel (literally “protection squadron” but translated variously as “protection squad”, “security section" etc) was formed (under different names) in 1923 as a Nazi party squad to provide security at public meetings (then often rowdy and violet affairs) and was later re-purposed as a personal bodyguard for Adolf Hitler.  The SS name was adopted in 1925 and during the Third Reich the institution evolved into a vast economic, industrial and military apparatus more than two million strong to the point where some historians (and contemporaries) regarded it as a kind of “state within a state”.  The Waffen-SS (armed SS (ie equipped with military-grade weapons)) existed on a small scale as early as 1933 before Hitler’s agreement was secured to create a formation at divisional strength and growth was gradual even after the outbreak of hostilities in 1939; it was the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 which triggered the Waffen-SS’s expansion into a multi-national armoured force with over 900,000 men under arms.  As well as the SS’s role in the administration of the many concentration and extermination camps, the Waffen-SS was widely implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Der SA Fuhrer Heft Nr.3 (Zeitschrift der SA Fuhrer der NSDAP), Published by Zentralverlag der NSDAP, Franz Eher Nachf. GmbH., Munich, 1938.  The title of the publication is best translated as “The SA Leader’s Magazine”.

The cover photograph of Göring in Luftwaffe (German Air Force) field marshal’s uniform with baton and sword was a study by Heinrich Hoffmann (1885–1957), Hitler’s court photographer.  The sword was a bespoke one-off manufactured by the Eickhorm company to mark his wedding on 10 April 1935, the pommel engraved with a facsimile of the Pour Le Merite (the “Blue Max”) he was awarded during his World War I (1914-1918) service as a pilot with the Jagdgeschwader (fighter squadron) 1 (better remembered as von Richthofen’s Flying Circus (named after the squadron's leader Manfred von Richthofen (Baron von Richthofen or "the Red Baron"; 1892–1918)).  Unlike his Reichsmarschall's creation, the baton he carried after being appointed a field marshal in February 1938 (also a sop after Hitler had sense enough not to appoint him Minister of Defense) was similar in size & style to earlier German versions.    

The Sturmabteilung (SA and translated usually as Storm Troopers) was the Nazi Party’s original paramilitary formation.  It played a significant role in the party’s success, used extensively to provide security at gatherings or political events and they were notorious for their street-fighting with communists and other opponents.  Even before the party gained power in 1933, the death toll associated with the SA was in the hundreds, mostly from battles on the streets although some murders really were assassinations, planned and otherwise.  Although the SA had been essential in Hitler’s rise to power, once he’d taken control of the state (and crucially, the military), the ongoing presence of literally millions of unruly SA street thugs became not merely an embarrassment but also a genuine threat to regime stability.  Accordingly, Hitler, on the pretext the SA’s leadership was about to stage a revolt (the so-called “Röhm putsch”, named after the SA chief Ernst Röhm (1887–1934)) in June 1934 conducted an operation which came to be called Nacht der langen Messer (Night of the Long Knives) during which as many as 180 were murdered, including some innocent bystanders who were what would now be called “collateral damage”.  It was a remarkably successful (if bloody) operation and illustrated like nothing before that a bunch of violent gangsters had taken over the country: Hitler had in his hand the baton and had no intention of “passing it on” or allowing it to be prized from his grip.  Notably, although Hitler (like most of Germany), had for years been well aware Röhm was a most active “confessed homosexual”, to hear his words of disgusted outrage after the pre-dawn raid (which, as head of state, personally he’d led, pistol in hand!), one would have thought he’d discovered “such depravity” only when he’d had Röhm and his SA cadre dragged from each other’s beds.

The “mission creep” which resulted in so many deaths was the consequence of many party figures taking advantage of the chaos to dispose of enemies, rivals or simply those against who they held some grievance.  Even Hitler, who’d reckoned on a manageable handful of dead bodies, seems to have been shocked at the extent of the bloodbath but soon rose to the occasion and ensured it was all retrospectively declared a lawful defense of the state.  At that point he realized his control was as absolute as it need to be and he never forgot the lesson the success of this pre-emptive strike.  In January 1941, while contemplating the invasion of Russia, he advised Ion Antonescu (1882–1946; wartime fascist dictator of Romania) how to solve the similar problem presented by Horia Sima (1906–1993; fascist politician and head of Romania’s wartime fascist paramilitary formations), telling him: “You have to get rid of them.  In every movement there are fanatic militants who think that in destroying they are doing their duty.  These people must not be allowed to act.”  Within days Antonescu acted on this helpful advice and solved his (immediate) problem although unlike the murdered Röhm, Sima lived to 86, unlike the unfortunate Antonescu who, convicted for some of his crimes by the "People's Court" of Romania's new communist government, was in 1946 executed.

The SS was an outgrowth of the SA, something which wasn’t planned but, in a manner typical of the way things were done in the Third Reich, was a consequence of factional empire-building and manoeuvrings to gain power and influence.  Until the outbreak of war in 1939 when they adopted field grey, the SS wore black (Hitler, always sceptical of Heinrich Himmler’s (1900–1945; Reichsführer SS 1929-1945) mysticism and general weirdness would, in moments of annoyance at their antics, call them der schwarze Nebel (the black mist)) uniforms, many of which were tailored by Hugo Boss, something on which that fashion house’s documents of corporate history don’t much dwell; it is a myth Hugo Boss designed the SS uniforms, it handled only the production.  The SS black was a choice but the SA’s brown was a thing of coincidence and economics because, after Germany’s defeat in World War I, the tropical colonies were lost so the state’s warehouses were packed with now surplus hot weather kit, most of the fabric in a shade like “desert brown”.  To be taken seriously in Germany, one has to wear a uniform and because the surplus stock was available in great quantity and at a low price, it was purchased by the right-wing nationalist movement which ultimately coalesced into the Nazi Party, the SA thus gained the nickname “Brownshirts”, an allusion to the equally thuggish “Blackshirts” used in the 1920s by Mussolini as a fascist paramilitary.  For the Italians, black had been a fashion choice but the Nazis ending being associated with brown just because of the strange circumstances.  Strange circumstances like this do happen and the original “Air Force Blue” used for the uniforms of the UK’s RAF (Royal Air Force) was chosen simply because the Ministry of Supply was offered a significant discount on large quantities of a blue fabric ordered by the government of Imperial Russia, a contract abruptly abrogated by the Kremlin after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917.  The “brown” association stuck (the party’s Munich headquarters was dubbed der Braunes Haus (the Brown House) and its officials (much despised variously for incompetence, corruption etc) wore uniforms in richer tones of brown, leading them to be labelled Goldfasane (golden pheasants), the derisive nickname used of high-ranking members (and their wives), the name an allusion to (1) the golden hue of the fabric of the party uniform, (2) their tendency to appear well fed (al la a plump pheasant fattened for slaughter) at a time when much of the population was living under food rationing and (3) their ostentation and self-importance (likened to a colorful and strutting pheasant).

Masonic daggers, purposes unknown.

Among their many mysterious rituals, the Freemasons also have their own lines of daggers which they claim are purely “ceremonial” but because all that they do is so shrouded in secrecy, the true nature of their purpose isn’t known, something of little consolation to those with a fear of being murdered by the Freemasons.  It is however believed that the styles of daggers conferred reflect the grades and offices which evolved from the medieval craft guilds and presumably, the more exalted one’s place in the Masonic hierarchy, the more elaborate the dagger to which one is entitled.  Top of the pile in a Masonic Lodge is the Worshipful Master, other intriguing titles including Senior Warden, Junior Warden, Chaplain, Senior Deacon, Junior Deacon, Steward, Tyler, Mentor and Almoner.  Whether all get their own daggers or some share with others are among the many mysteries of Freemasonry.  Of the even more opaque Secret Society of the Les Clefs d’Or, nothing is known about whether their rituals include the use of daggers, ceremonial or otherwise.

Randall Made Knives of Orlando, Florida: The Arkansas toothpick

To gain a sense of the way the folk in the state of Arkansas have long been perceived, consider the Arkansas toothpick, an impressive dagger produced usually in lengths between 12-20 inches (300-500 mm) and claimed to be ideal for “thrusting and slashing”.  The weapon is said to be the creation of US knifemaker James Black (1800–1872) and is described by many historians as an “improved version” of the famous Bowie knife, the design of which was credited to James Bowie (1796–1836) who enjoyed the sort of varied career often seen south of the Mason-Dixon Line, his activities including land speculation (lawful and not, slave trading (mostly lawful) and military adventures (official and not).  In truth, Mr Black’s original dagger seems to have been a slight variant of the Bowie knife because there’s little in documents from the nineteenth century to suggest the two were regarded as sufficiently different to be used for different purposes.  The term “Arkansas Toothpick” seems first to have been used in the late 1820s or early 1830s by European travellers who told tales of the rugged characters they encountered in the backwoods of Arkansas, including them using long-bladed daggers to “pick their teeth”.  Some have speculated the term might have pre-dated the debut of the Bowie knife in (circa 1830) and that the notion of two different knives evolved in the nineteenth century only because of this casual journalistic slang.  However it happened, the Arkansas Toothpick and Bowie knife are now established items in the knifemakers’ catalogues.

Brace

Brace (pronounced breys)

(1) Something that holds parts together or in place, as a clasp or clamp.

(2) Anything that imparts rigidity or steadiness (sometimes called a bitbrace or bitstock).

(3) In drilling, a hand tool for drilling holes, with a socket to hold the drill at one end and a cranked handle by which the tool can be turned in full (also called a bitstock).

(4) In building trades, a piece of timber, metal, etc., for supporting or positioning another piece or portion of a framework.

(5) In Admiralty use, on a square-rigged ship, A rope reeved through a block at the end of a yard, by which the yard is moved horizontally (also as the rudder gudgeon).

(6) In nautical use, to swing round the yards of a square rigged ship (using braces), to present a more efficient sail surface to the direction of the wind.

(7) In music, the leather loops sliding upon the tightening cords of a drum to change their tension and the drum's pitch.

(8) In dentistry, a system of wires, brackets, and elastic bands used to correct crooked or irregularly arranged teeth or to reduce overbite, placed directly against the surfaces of the teeth.

(9) In orthopaedic surgery, a device or appliance that supports or holds a movable part of the body in correct position while allowing motion of the part.

(10) In fashion, an alternative name for suspender (almost always in the plural as braces).

(11) A pair; a couple, used originally of dogs, and later of animals generally (eg a brace of grouse) and then other things, but rarely people.  Now usually used in the context of hunting or (in sport) scoring a pair of goals, tries etc (though not related to the “pair” in cricket, the unhappy record of being dismissed twice without scoring in each innings of a first class or test match.

(12) In typography, one of two characters { or } used to enclose words or lines to be considered together.  Also called a bracket, though not recommended because technically, they’re [ and ]. 

(13) In mathematics, as { or } used for connecting lines of printing or writing or as a third sign of aggregation in complex mathematical or logical expressions that already contain parentheses and brackets.

(14) In musical composition, as { or } also called accolade, a line or bracket connecting two or more staves of music

(15) A protective band covering the wrist or lower part of the arm, especially a bracer.

(16) In military parade drill, a position of attention with exaggeratedly stiff posture.

(17) Literally and figuratively, to prepare for an impact or an event.

(18) In informal slang, to become resolute; to stimulate or freshen.

(19) A form of armor for the arm, also called vambrace (obsolete).

(20) In mining, the mouth of a shaft (apparently a localism restricted to Cornwall).

(21) A medical device, a kind of compression fitting used on joints (ankles, knees etc) to provide support during the healing process.

(22) A measurement of length, originally representing a person's outstretched arms (obsolete).

(23) In engineering, a piece of material used to transmit, or change the direction of, weight or pressure; any one of the pieces, in a frame or truss, which divide the structure into triangular parts.  It may act as a tie, or as a strut, and serves to prevent distortion of the structure, and transverse strains in its members.

(24) A kind of riding equipment or horse tack (in historic reference only).

(25) A peninsula; a cape or slice of land jutting into the sea (in historic reference only).

(26) A perch (unit of measure) (in historic reference only).

(27) A point of a cross or rood (in historic reference only).

1300–1350: From the Middle English brace & bracen and the Anglo-French bracier borrowed from the from the Old French brace (arm), derived from the Latin brāchia & brācchia (the nominative and accusative plural (taken as feminine singular)) of brāchium & brācchium (arm) drawn from the Ancient Greek βραχίων (brakhíōn), most influenced by the plural Latin form bracchia (two arms).  The variety of spellings from the medieval period are extinct, the usual forms now bracchium or bracchia in the plural.  The prior etymology is wholly speculative, may have come from Gothic brasa (glowing coal), Proto-Germanic brasō (crackling coal) or the primitive bhres (to crack, break, burst).  It was cognate was the French braise (embers), Swedish brasa (to roast) and Icelandic brasa (to harden by fire), all thought related to the Sanskrit भ्रज bhraja (fire).  Brace & bracing are nouns & verbs and braced is a verb & adjective; the noun plural is braces.

Highly qualified content provider Busty Buffy (b 1996) wearing leather braces (without belt).

In idiomatic use, the phrase “belt and braces approach” is used to describe the inclusion of redundancy in design, ensuring mutual backups in the event of one system failing.  The phrase is from the notion of the use of either a belt or set of braces to prevent one’s trousers falling down and although both accessories are now (at least to some extent) decorative fashion items, in the era before tighter fitting clothes, they were essential and the especially cautious wore both, avoiding the dreaded SPF (single point-of-failure).  In the US, the equivalent form is “belt and suspenders approach”, “suspenders” (also as “suspender belt”) elsewhere usually understood as the device used by women to hold up their stockings, a device in US English styled as a “garter belt”. 

The original, early fourteenth century meaning was “an item of armor for the arms (and also “a thong or strap for fastening”), reflect the link to the Old French brace (arms) and it was from here that emerged brace as “a length measured by the span of a man’s two arms”.  The meaning "that which holds two or more things firmly together" (derived originally on the notion of clasping arms) emerged in the mid-fifteenth century and came to be applied to an array of fastening and tightening devices in a wide range of endeavours including art, engineering, carpentry, agriculture etc.  The specific meaning as a “prop, supporting strut” began in architecture in the 1520s and came to be applied to just about anything involving physical objects, the figurative use noted from the late sixteenth century.  The idea of things in pairs (first dogs, later game such as ducks, grouse etc) dates from circa 1400 and was later applied to various pairs (pistols, carriages etc); the use in sport to describe scoring twice in the one game (goals, tries etc) was a twentieth century coining, apparently by print journalists wanting something different from “pair” or “two”.  Braces in the sense of “straps passing over the shoulders to hold up the trousers” was from 1798, used after 1945 to describe the hardware used for wires for straightening the teeth.  In the English tradition, to say the weather is "bracing" means it's "damnably cold".

Knocking back a bracer: Crooked Hillary Clinton enjoys a quick belt of Crown Royal Bourbon Whiskey, Bronko's restaurant, Crown Point, Indiana, Saturday 12 April, 2008.

Lindsay Lohan’s injured right ankle in foot-brace, Mykonos, Greece, 2018.  It’s believed she made a good recovery but may never play rugby again.

The verb brace emerged in the mid-fourteenth century meaning both “to seize, grasp, hold firmly” & “wrap, enshroud; tie up, fetter”, something gained from the Old French bracier (to embrace), again the idea of grasping by the arms.  The meaning "make tense, render firm or steady by tensing" was noted from the mid-fifteenth century although decades earlier it had been used in the figurative sense of "strengthen or comfort someone”.  From this, by the 1740s, developed the later extension to tonics which "brace" the nerves (the bracer a "stiff drink"), a throwback to the original bracer (the early fourteenth century piece of armor protecting the arm) and by 1826 a bracer had assumed the specific use as “an alcoholic drink taken early in the morning”.  From the 1580s, a bracer was also “any sort of stay or clamp which braces or makes firm”, used typically in engineering or construction.  To brace oneself (place oneself in the position of a brace in anticipation of some shock or impact) is documented by 1805 but there is peripheral evidence the phrase may have been in use as early as circa 1500, probably in relation to horse-drawn transport and now familiar to many from the safety demonstration dutifully conducted by flight attendants before every take-off.  Because braces are designed and used for many purposes, there are a large number of derived terms including angle brace, curly brace, neck brace, ankle brace, tower brace, tower brace etc.

General Ulysses S Grant (1822–1885; US president 1869-1877) being photographed in uniform as General of the Army (four star), a rank to which he was appointed in 1866, New York, circa 1866.

Behind the general is a “posture brace”, used by photographers to prevent their subjects moving (the projecting prongs holding the head steady), any movement during the long exposure time risking blurring of the image.  The photo session was conducted in the Huston and Kurtz studio and can properly be called a “session” because, in addition to being time-consuming, the technique in use was called “photosculpture” (developed in 1859 by French artist François Willème (1830–1905)) which involved taking up to 24 photographs of a subject from various angles, the original concept being the creation of a montage which was effectively a 360^o view to assist sculptors carving busts or creating statures.  The perpendicular lines & numbers (1-24) on the platform were references for the photographer who would use them to align the camera’s lens, ensuring an exact series of images.  The studio was a partnership between German born Wilhelm Kurz (1833–1904) and a certain Mr Huston who appears to have vanished from history.  The business was dissolved within two years and Mr Kurz reverted to operating as a sole-trader, later establishing a studio in Madison Square, New York and going on to make notable innovations in the then novel color photography.

In modern commerce the posture brace (marketed also as “posture corrector”) is a specialized form of underwear garment designed to help improve one’s posture, typically by aligning the spine and shoulders into a more upright (or “correct”) position. Advertised as devices which can counteract poor posture habits (especially those resulting from prolonged sitting or slouching), the claims include a reduction in neck, back & shoulder strain.  The designs and methods of construction vary but many of the most popular are made from elastic or neoprene, wrapping around the back & shoulders, acting gently to “pull the shoulders back”.  Others are really straps or harnesses which combine a lightweight form which can exert the required force on the shoulders without excessively restricting movement and a recent development has been the “passive brace”: wearables which buzz or vibrate when slouching is detected, acting as a reminder rather than physically forcing alignment and thus analogous with seat-belt or speed waring chimes in cars.

Brace of single-shot duelling pistols in hardwood case, featured by Hallowell, the design from England and in vogue circa 1770-1850.

Many items were produced in pairs for many reasons but with duelling pistols it was obviously culturally deterministic.  Most used either flintlock or percussion ignition, and were supplied with the cleaning and loading accessories (the cleaning kit still something to ensure is supplied when one buys (or otherwise obtains) one’s AK47).  Duelling pistols tended to be lighter than contemporary service pistols and were often made with a finer finish, reflecting the upper-class market for which they were produced.  The ballistics techniques varied and although most appear to have been smooth-bored, some were scratch-rifled and there were octagon (or octagon-to-round) barrels, all around 9-10 inches (228-254 mm) long.  Almost all were forged from some form of Damascus steel, with bores slightly larger than a half-inch (50 mm) and supplied with ramrods, rudimentary sights front and rear, single-set triggers, roller-bearing frizzens and curved grips integral with full or half-stocks.  Although usually of high quality construction (sometimes with silver furniture), unlike the boxed braces produced for display or ceremonial purposes, duelling pistols tended to be relatively plain and unembellished.

Noted pheasant plucker Boris Johnson (b 1964, UK prime-minister 2019-2022) after bagging a brace of pheasants.

DPRK’s military parades.  The 2010 event (left) during the era of the Dear Leader and the 2015 event (right) after the accession of the Supreme Leader.

Although in production for almost two decades, Mercedes-Benz built only 2677 600s and of those, 428 were the long-wheelbase Pullmans.  Of those, 59 were the Landaulets with a convertible roof extending either over the rearmost seats or the whole passenger compartment.  Just 12 of the latter were built and the only one known to have bought a brace was Kim Il-sung (Kim I, 1912–1994; Great Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (the DPRD, North Korea)) who ordered two in 1968.  Just as the DPRK and its grateful population passed to his descendents, Kim Jong-il (1941–2011; Kim II, Dear Leader of the DPRK 1994-2011) and Kim Jong-un (Kim III, b 1983; Supreme Leader of the DPRK since 2011), they also inherited the Landaulets which for decades were a fixture at state occasions like military parades.  Buying a brace ensured an unusual distinction of rarity; the parades are said to be the only occasions when two 600 long-roof Landaulets were seen in the same place at the same time.  The Supreme Leader updated in 2015 to the new S600 Pullman Landaulets but they’re mass-produced compared with the original, lack gravitas and look something like a very big Hyundai (made in the "puppet state" of South Korea).  For this reason, the old 600s are retained for occasions when there’s a need really to impress folks and maintain the dynasty’s image of continuity which stretches back to the Great Leader.

1970 Dodge Hemi Challenger with strut brace (also called strut bar), triangulated against the firewall.  Strut braces are stiff metal bars which connect the strut towers (front or rear), the purpose being enhanced structural rigidity.  Depending on the vehicle, the difference can be anything from transformative to non-existent and manufacturers of high-end machinery are aware of their appeal.  There have in recent decades been enormous advances in structural engineering and engineers admit that on some exotic machinery, the torsional rigidity is so high that strut braces add nothing except a little additional weight but they’re installed anyway, simply for the visual effect and to meet buyer expectation.  They’re a popular retro-fit to many of the machines from the 1960s and 1970s which, frankly, were over-powered when new and more so when modified.