Butterknife: a very specific GenX fond memory.
Posted by HTLM22@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 90 comments
Anyone else remember this precise thing:
Basically setting up a game console to play on channel 3 or 4, but being so excited to play that I just used a butterknife to tighten the screws to the TV, not an actual flathead screwdriver.
(Note that in making this picture, the adaptor, would go on the TV, not a coax adapter, but I didn't readily find that picture. The screws right still where the butterknife would go, though)
Legitimate_You_3474@reddit
Or Long thumb nail 👍
Hib3rnian@reddit
Should NOT be inserted into electrical outlet.
Source: me
Bright-Form730@reddit
I did the same as a toddler, older kids encouraged me to lol⚡️⚡️⚡️
Killertigger@reddit
Older siblings actively try to reduce competition within the family - its evolution in real time!
Bright-Form730@reddit
So true. My older sister has said “I had it good until you 2 showed up!”
DangRascal@reddit
That is a table knife.
A butter knife has a blade whose axis is offset from its handle.
HTLM22@reddit (OP)
Are you British? Maybe you are right. I feel like we need to take a poll of US citizens with the picture of the above knife and ask:
True or False: You can call this a butterknife and most people will understand what you are saying.
ReverendDizzle@reddit
U.S. citizen here. That's clearly a table knife (or, regionally, if you're in Appalachia, a "case" knife). Which is not to say that most Americans don't use it to butter toast, they do.
Butter knives are a different style of knife. I grew up with butter knives that looked like these, except with more ornate handles.
All that said, I have a feeling if you said "butter knife" a fair number of people would hand you a table knife simply because they didn't grow up using butter knives and never purchased any as an adult.
So your point stands: most people would understand, even if their understanding was incorrect.
HTLM22@reddit (OP)
So basically you grew up rich? No one I new had a whole separate category of knives just for butter. And I've heard of "table knives" until today. Both butter knives and steak knives go on the table.
But I appreciate you conceding my point, that just because it is "correct" doesn't mean that it what people actually say.
ReverendDizzle@reddit
I didn't grow up in poverty but rich is a bit of a stretch. I just had folks, my mother especially, who valued tradition and a well set table.
HTLM22@reddit (OP)
I was raised by hippies. They actively rejected tradition. I did have grandparents but " table knives" never came up in conversation. By college I did learn the bare minimum of eating at a fancier dinner, but that most mostly work outside in and how to pass dishes and not drink from the little creamer cup.
DangRascal@reddit
Your poll would be Argument to the Gallery.
Few-Pineapple-5632@reddit
It a butter knife. Technically it’s a table knife and I know what a butter knife is because I have one but this knife is used to spread butter way more often.
NinjaEnder@reddit
Finally, another person in this thread who knows a butter knife is actually a smaller, completely different knife than a table or steak knife. Growing up all my relatives had these three knifes in the silverware drawer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter_knife https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_knife https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steak_knife
Few-Pineapple-5632@reddit
Not always offset. Sometimes the blade is just shaped different and shorter.
DangRascal@reddit
Sounds like we agree that the pictured piece of flatware is a table knife, and not a butter knife.
OGBullyninja@reddit
Butter knives, Best for hot knives and hash :) 🤣
HTLM22@reddit (OP)
I heard about that, but never experienced it. It sounded like it would require more fine motor control that I had at the time. Was it fun, or out of necessity, like smoking out of an apple?
OGBullyninja@reddit
Fun and easiest quickest way to use it. No waste, just a quick blast of hashish. It was hard to do alone, best with a buddy to control the knives while you concentrate on the bottle.
plaidbrarian@reddit
The original multitool!
AC_Uni@reddit
With its intended use exactly as shown (beyond sticking it in the toaster to fish out your crumpets)
ascii122@reddit
This was when screws were simple. Now I've got a screw box with like 50 different star/octagon/security screws in like 10 different sizes for fixing smart phones/laptops etc. WTF Takes like 10 mins to figure out which one I need to use
Initforlicks@reddit
My parents thought I was a mystical genius at age 6 because I could hook my NES to the tv
sidewaysbynine@reddit
I'll bet they also told you that you could be anything you want to be when you grew up, even the President. So the question is how is the fund raising going for your super-pac?
EmpireCityRay@reddit
Having to teach to switch it back and forth…
Fabulousmo@reddit
Hot knives!
OIL_99@reddit
Multi-tasker
MaoTseTrump@reddit
On the same 20" Sony "portable" TV I had one for the Atari, and another for Intellivision piggybacked into the same terminals. In 1989 they came out with a splitter. That was the big time.
OIL_99@reddit
Pole position!
Inner-Confidence99@reddit
Don’t forget used them to help rewind/fix cassette tapes too. Lol
Mistervimes65@reddit
I always used a pencil.
GracieThunders@reddit
I worked in an electronics store, they're called baluns, and I've sold hundreds of them
Ralithorn@reddit
Damn that really brings back memories!
OperaBunny@reddit
Yes felt like a genius when I connected all the peripherals, and everything worked. Got carpal tunnel from the joysticks though.
gumby_twain@reddit
I need one of those for the atari 2600 i have in a storage bin
RG450@reddit
All the butter knives in my old house have bent tips from being used to change out storm windows and screens every fall and spring.
skspoppa733@reddit
The adapter was only needed on newer TV’s that only had a coax input. The butter knife was used to attach the switcher box directly to the VHF antenna posts on the back of the TV, and the antenna attached to the bottom of the switcher box posts with the same butter knife.
HTLM22@reddit (OP)
Yes, I clarified that in the post.
CommonCut2063@reddit
I used that to connect my Atari to the back of the TV
MaximumJones@reddit
Or just use your cocaine fingernail.
phxor@reddit
I can’t be the only one that saw the pic and immediately thought it was going to be a post about doing knife hits 🤷🏻♂️
MaximumJones@reddit
That was my very first thought. I'm kind of disappointed.
Sea_Entertainment438@reddit
Oddly enough I can smell that photo. Old TVs and equipment had such a distinct smell when warm.
drunkagainearl@reddit
But does it smell like the heat coming out the back of a PS4?
Anonymo123@reddit
butter knives are also useful for breaking into older cars. Had to do it a few times to my car, got pretty good at it.
lantech@reddit
When we wanted to play a video game we had to put the TV on channel 3
MichaelPlastic@reddit
Absolutely. Also was the tool of choice when the little plastic switch for changing "TV" to "GAME" broke and you needed a butter knife to push the remaining base up and down.
wetwater@reddit
I'd probably get beaten with the butter knife if I tried that and didn't grab a screwdriver from the basement workshop. This is probably why I have a variety of screwdrivers hanging around just in case.
mldyfox@reddit
Dude, I still use a butter knife in lieu of a screwdriver on occasion. Sometimes the thinner blade of the butter knife fits better.
PrivilegeCheckmate@reddit
I'm not gonna lie, brother, sometimes I used a steak knife.
JuliusTheTailor@reddit
I had one of those for my TI 99/4A and I’m sure I did the butter knife thing.
A_Downboat_Is_A_Sub@reddit
Had one for a Commodore 64, they had problems if you had something that had bad RF shielding near them.
Free-oppossums@reddit
🫡 My mom saved mine. The TI-99/4A, not the butter knife. It's still in the book case in the spare room. Along with my Atari 2600 and a crate of 45s with the yellow adapters.
wanuguano@reddit
TI-99/4A kid here too! Hunt the Wumpus was my jam
gonzo-gramps@reddit
Add a second knife for hot knifing adventures
RedDragonTatt2@reddit
Worked perfectly every time. No idea why we didn’t have a screw driver though. 🤷🏻♂️😂
Killertigger@reddit
The original Multitool! And, if you had certain cheap interior doors that you could easily unlock with one - the original MultiPass!
verstohlen@reddit
Butters toast AND screws drivers! I mean drives screws!
wanuguano@reddit
Butter knife is kept in the top drawer of the toolbox right next to the duct tape and zip ties
foomeitshitme@reddit
Playing card folded up and put behind the channel knob
wpgjudi@reddit
I still use them. Great for pot lid screws too
WeekendLegitimate615@reddit
My wife's favorite multi purpose tool!! Screw driver, pry bar, scraper.
DieMensch-Maschine@reddit
"I just wanted to play some Missile Command, dammit!"
Ledophile@reddit
Still do this!!…….
handsomeape95@reddit
Free a bagel stuck in the toaster. Yeah I know, but I lived to talk about it!
PurpleCollarAndCuffs@reddit
LOL!!! I just tightened up a pan handle yesterday with a butter knife. My son walked in and he was all ‘do you want me to get a screwdriver?’ Hahah, kids.
mkstot@reddit
largos7289@reddit
Screw driver, Lego separator and sandwich maker was there anything it couldn't do?
handsomeape95@reddit
Couldn't cut butter.
This_Fkn_Guy_@reddit
Bro 🤣
GrandPriapus@reddit
My wife uses them to open paint cans. Even though the paint store gives us a free opener with every gallon purchased, she still defaults back to butter knives.
shitty_advice_BDD@reddit
I used it to jimmy open my dad's porn box. Star 85 was the shit!
Ray_The_Engineer@reddit
I did this when I was living with my parents as a kid; Dad's tool collection was crummy and 2 floors away. Now I keep tools everywhere I need them, because engineer.
Sympathyquiche@reddit
A butter knife, a pencil and some gaffer tape fixes most things.
LisaLisaPrintJam@reddit
I hung all the art in my first apartment with a wooden stiletto used as a hammer
peepee2tiny@reddit
I remember how hard it was to move the knob between the TV and the game.
my little sausage fingers would have a big indentation trying to move that slider
RunningWineaux@reddit
If I go into the big bin of stuff next to my desk, one of those adapters is in there. The 2600 is in the attic (it's well insulated and not hot)
Boundless_Forest@reddit
In my toolbox now
humble_cyrus@reddit
My gawd, I forgot about doing this! The little connectors for the vhf/uhf had to seat in the tv screws. Wow!
I_love_Hobbes@reddit
Wait a minute...
It's for cutting butter?
MedievalHag@reddit
Still have one. Lol
RetroactiveRecursion@reddit
A butter knife?
MedievalHag@reddit
Yes. That too.
Northman_76@reddit
"The original multitool"
RetroactiveRecursion@reddit
HA! Now I'm thinking about the cartoon Little Rascals educational blurb (similar to "The More You Know") where they talk about the proper tools and not using a butter knife as a screwdriver.
Vast_Breadfruit_162@reddit
10 year old me thought he was a master electrician because he could hook up an Atari 2600 all by himself.
Komaisnotsalty@reddit
And popping doors open with the inside of a Bic pen! Master Thief, right there.
Komaisnotsalty@reddit
I still have one if I dig through my electronics box. We had a butter knife that stayed behind the TV, much to our mom's ire.
gin_bulag_katorse@reddit
It's since been repurposed to poop knife.
MarkItZeroDonnie@reddit
I’m switching that bitch to game and playing Night Stalker on Intellevision