obsolescene [was church key]

[James C Stalker]

        The “ice box” example opens some interesting connections among
language, metaphor, and technology.  When I was young, we had an ice box.
My father would bring home blocks of ice and place them in the appropriate
compartment, and replace the ice as necessary.  When we had an electric
machine that manufactured its own ice, I, of course, still called it an ice
box.  That’s what it was. How the ice got in it was immaterial.  In time
brand names (Frigidare) or generic labels based on function (refrigerator)
replaced ice box, just because more people used those terms.  The original
named object has been replaced by other versions, and has become a box that
makes ice rather than a box that holds ice, apparently, a significant shift.
The term has, for the most part, disappeared, although, denotatively, it
needn’t have.  It is still an ice box.
        Church key takes a different course.  Several posters still use them, but
don’t always call them a “church key.”  I make sure that I have one
around for various reasons.  There are still cans to be opened without
automatic tops, such as large juice cans, which generally don’t fit
electric openers, and can be opened with a screw type can opener, but that
is inconvenient. The tool is available in stores, although not always
readily.  The tool remains, but the name is passing.  The possible visual
physical connection with keys for churches (the e-Bay post) and the possible
metaphoric oxymoron are passing, but the tool lives on.
        Both terms seem to be disappearing, but for quite different reasons.

Jim Stalker

James C. Stalker
Department of English
Michigan State University