Utility Knife - Names

Names

In British, Australian and New Zealand English, along with Dutch and Austrian German, a utility knife frequently used in the construction industry is known as a Stanley knife. This name is a genericised trademark named after Stanley Works, a manufacturer of such knives. In Israel and Switzerland, these knives are known as Japanese knives. In Brazil they are known as estiletes or cortadores Olfa (the latter, being another genericised trademark). In Portugal and Canada they are also known as X-Acto (yet another genericised trademark). In the Philippines, France, Italy, and Egypt, they are simply called cutter. In general Spanish, they are known as cortaplumas (penknife, when it comes to folding blades); in Spain, Mexico, and Costa Rica, they are colloquially known as cutters; and in Uruguay the segmented fixed-blade knives are known as "trinchetas". Other names for the tool are box cutter or boxcutter, razor blade knife, razor knife, carpet knife, pen knife, stationery knife, sheetrock knife, or drywall knife. Some of these names refer to a different kind of knife depending on the region. For example, in the mid-Atlantic US, the X-Acto name is likelier to evoke only a specific subset of these knives (the pencil-shaped hobby knife), which may explain why the "utility knife" name, with its specificity, is more common there for the larger type. Also, in this region, "box cutter" usually evokes only a specific subset of these knives (the simpler type whose body consists only of a flat sleeve stamped from sheet steel), and "pen knife" usually evokes only a folding pocket knife.