Re: Re: church key 'beer-can opener' is obsolete

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 2/25/05 6:18:49 PM, wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM writes:


> A Google search reveals roughly 5,000 hits for "church-key" + "beer-can" 
> and "church-key" +
> "bottle-opener."
> 
> Obsolete or obsolescent ?
> 
> Or neither ?
> 
> JL
> 

It depends of course on the nature of the cites. 5,000 hits seems like a lot, 
but if they largely represent (a) collectors and (b) the language of older 
people, then "archaic" or "bercoming obsolete" makes sense. In any 
case--AGAIN--the fact that there are a fair number of hits on Google seems to support the 
conclusion that the term was not a REGIONAL one, which is where all this 
discussion really started.

Also, I'm not sure where the "roughly 5,000 hits" comes from. I found only 
1,500 hits for "church-key + bottle-opener" and 817 hits for "Church-key" + 
"beer-can"; many were duplicates. Of the first ten for "beer can," most were or 
contained definitions of CHURCH KEY, indicating that the term was assumed to be 
unknown to the reader. Several describe CHURCH KEY using the past tense:


Church Key
... on through my newspaper column a question from a Maryland reader about 
why "the
tool that punches a triangular hole in a beer can is called a church key," 
... ...
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... Jennifer Dick McQ: A church key was used to punch a triangular hole in 
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 Beer Can Lingo
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... The tops
are flat, and to open them, you had to use an opener called a "church key". 
...
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... spouted tops (cone tops) or need a can opener (church key) to open ... 
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 Zip Tops
... maker named Ermal Fraze, according to legend, found himself at a picnic 
with beer,
but no church key to open ... 1. This is the first pull tab beer can ever 
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 Definitions
... Church key: a device invented with the beer can which was used to punch 
holes
in the can's lid in order to pour out the can's contents. ...
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 GMA Recipe: Beer Can Chicken: Great on the Grill
... 3. Pop the tab on the beer can. Using a "church key"-style can opener ,
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www.wchstv.com/gmarecipes/beercanchicken.shtml - 19k - <nCached - 
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