Posted by Robert Hill on December 17, 2006 at 00:15:35 from 195.92.168.163 user eclrh.
In Reply to: Re: ZEE or ZED? posted by Ed Kiser on December 16, 2006 at 12:36:43:
And speaking of MONKEY - A "SPANNER" in England is a "WRENCH" in USA. The ADUSTABLE SPANNER in England is a, (ready for this one?) MONKEY WRENCH. Go figure...
Wrench is used in Britan too, for certain types of spanner-like tools. For example, one type of wrench has a knurled knob which you use to adjust the jaws until they are just a little bit wider than the object you want to grip, then as you squeeze the handles the wrench suddenly flips into a state where it is gripping the object tightly. To release it, you move a lever which is attached to one of the handles.
A wrench of this type is called a mole wrench. The name always makes me wonder what harm moles have done to humans that led us to invent a special tool just for the purpose of wrenching them. But a web search suggests the mole wrench was invented by someone named Mole.