Bradawl - BrE only, or also AmE ??

Don't know about American English, but we Brits call it a 'bradawl.' It's basically a metal spike, used in woodworking to make a small pilot hole for a screw, or drill bit. It can often be shortened to 'awl.' I think 'awl' might suffice in American English. certainly, shoemakers refer to the tool as an 'awl.' There's a 19th century American folk song called 'Peg and Awl' all about shoemakers.

As an American who lives in US, I've always seen it (or something similar to it?) called an Awl. I never knew it has another name, though! Good to know.

Los Pollos Hermanos said:

Sounds like it's an awl! In the UK an awl is slightly different, hence my question.

Many thanks!

p.s. I've been doing that much language research I recently forgot what we call a "crash barrier" and used "guardrail" instead. Got some funny looks - haha!

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LOL! Never hurts to ask/check, right? It's one of those amusing quirks when dealing with international content and language, hehe.

Canadian usage chiming in. My dad was a woodworker, he called it an 'awl'. I know 'bradawl' from catalogs and old tool books, though, and wonder if it's a matter of specialization?
If you're selling tools, you might want to indicate that an 'awl' is the proper shape for woodworking purposes, a 'bradawl', rather than the (I imagine) slightly different ones for working with leather, or paper? Or, fabric, I know there are some kinds of embroidery that use somekindawl for making gaps between threads. ie if you only use an awl for one thing, it's an awl, if you have a variety of awls for a variety of tasks, then you have different names.

Like Mr. Maryn's using 'scratch awl', used to scratch or scribe a line on a piece of wood, and a 'punch' for an awl used to poke holes in wood. (Sad confession: my father, in a pinch, would have used a nail for any or all of these purposes.)

You could always invent a new tool to do the job. How about a dammitawl?

. . . oh, wait . . . in the UK it would have to be a buggerawl.

caw

As I dimly remember highschool woodworking (woodshop) class - a bradawl has a tiny flattened screwdriver-type end on it, and a awl comes to a spikey point.

blacbird said:

You could always invent a new tool to do the job. How about a dammitawl?

. . . oh, wait . . . in the UK it would have to be a buggerawl.

caw

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Nah! It would be a sodditall.

I've used this tool when carving or making jewelry. In the States, I'm pretty sure I've only ever heard it called an 'awl', except when my grandmother called hers an icepick.

I'm in the US and I have one of those, albeit with a different sort of handle. It came with a screwdriver set, and I use it for poking holes in fabric (for grommets) when making corsets. It's a common tool for corsetmakers and historical costumers. In these circles, I've never heard it called anything but an awl. They do come in different flavors, though! The tapered awl has a cone-shaped bit, so you can gradually widen the hole you're making, or make holes of varying sizes. The straight awl is perfectly uniform from base to tip. It's used for making identically sized holes.

And don't you just love the differences between the Queen's English and American English? My second novel was set in modern-day London, as well as Boston and the Great Lakes area of Canada (in the distant future). I had to do TONS of research into British terminology, to get the details right for the scenes set in England. Although, I had a bit of an advantage, being a die-hard Doctor Who and Torchwood fan! Already knew lots of British slang.

Los Pollos Hermanos said:

I watch a lot of American TV and read a lot of American true crime/crime fiction, so was reasonably clued up on some quite random stuff. It's the subtleties which have the potential to trip you up, like "make a left" instead of "turn left" - and that's one of many I could mention.

Awl this language business is pecking my head.

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Give up language for a few months. It will give you a new appreciation for language.