Peter, I was told this story by a chap that used to build his own armour. With a crossbow, the act of drawing back the string (?) to the firing position is called "spanning" the bow. Early crossbows were spanned by placing the bow with the stock pointing up and the centre of the bow on the ground (Aiming at the floor, so to speak). With is feet either side of the body of the bow, but over the arms, the bowman then used a hook which was around his waist to pull the string up to the latch. This was done by bending forwards, attaching the hook, then straightening up. This was fine until the pull required was increased. Later crossbows had a squared shaft which could be wound to "span" the bow. The tool that was used on the squared shaft became known as a spanner. If it isn't true, then it's such a good story that it ought to be! JohnP ----- Original Message ----- From: <peter.chadwick@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: <modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2008 11:15 AM Subject: [modeleng] idle musings Where did some of the names for tools originate? Why a bastard file? Incidentally, what is it called in French and German? Why is it a spanner in the UK, but a wrench in the US? Who was Allen of key fame ( but I believe, an Allen wrench in the US) How come an adjustable spanner is 'un clef anglaise' in French when it was invented by a Swede? Why is it called a 'Scotch yoke'? Anybody got any ideas? OK, it's one way to pass a Sunday morning....... ---------- Zarlink Semiconductor Limited is a Company registered in England and Wales under number 00705031 with its registered office at Cheney Manor, Swindon, Wilts SN2 2QW, England. This email is confidential and may contain information that is privileged and exempt from disclosure by law. If you have received it in error, please contact the sender immediately by return email and then delete it from your system; you should not copy it or disclose its contents to anyone. Emails are not secure and cannot be guaranteed to be error free as they can be intercepted, amended, lost or destroyed, or contain viruses. Anyone who communicates with us by email is taken to accept these risks. MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.20.7/1283 - Release Date: 16/02/2008 14:16 MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.