[Shop-talk] Dykes

[john niolon]

from wikipedia...

Dykes - as in the phrase "a pair of dykes" - is jargon used especially in 
the electrical industry, to describe diagonal pliers. It is a corruption of 
"diagonal cutters". Dyke can also be used as a verb, such as in the idiom 
"when in doubt, dyke it out." This implies that a problem can be simplified 
by eliminating the unnecessary.

> I've often heard wire cutters referred to as dykes (dikes?).  I'm not even
> going to hazard a guess as to how that name came about.
>
> Mike Frerichs
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mark Andy
>>
>> Side cutters instead of wire snips or diagonal cutters or whatever 
>> they're
>> really called.
> _______________________________________________
> jniolon at bham.rr.com