flat-head screw(driver)s

[Dennis R. Preston]

Ditto for me.

dInIs

>Yes, I'm familiar with and use the term "flat-head screw."  And I use
>"flat-head screwdriver."  And the latter is not necessarily used with
>the former.  There are flat-headed screws which require phillips-head
>screwdrivers.
>
>
>>Greg Pulliam <greg at PULLIAM.ORG> writes:
>>
>>  >>>>>
>>      [...]
>>I call them "phillips-head" and "flat-head"
>>screwdrivers.  I don't know (as I think about it now) if I picked
>>"flat-head" up from Dad or from living in the deep and mid- south.
>><<<<<
>>
>>And others here also speak of "flat-head screwdrivers".
>>
>>I'm not a hardware geek by any means, but from shopping in hardware stores for
>>screws to match the ones I've got for a particular job at home, I've learned
>>that "flat-head screws" are distinguished from, I think, "oval-head screws" by
>>the profile of the top, and are so shown on the box. The criterion is, Is the
>>top literally flat (apart from the cut for the screwdriver head) or does it
>>bulge into a curved surface? This is a separate dimension from the cut*, which
>>is what this thread has been about up to now: Phillips vs. straight.
>>
>>* for lack of a more precise word
>>
>>So the term may be used differently by
>>  - the manufacturers (and maybe those who deal professionally with
>>the hardware,
>>such as carpenters and cabinetmakers) and
>>  - some of the rest of us.
>>
>>-- Mark
>
>-
>
>Greg

Dennis R. Preston
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736