Kindjal

ariel · 19th January 2015, 01:28 AM

Mech is a slavic word for a straight double-edged sword.
There is an equivalent to the turkish "mech" ,i.e. narrow-bladed, edge-less and very long blade suitable only for stabbing weapon, i.e. Eastern European sword called Konchar ( various writing). Amusingly, this word came from turkic languages ( handzhar is a close relative).

Thus, both the Ottomans and the Slavs used the same weapon, but each called it in the opposite language: Turks took the Slavc term, and the Slavs Turkish.
Fair swap :-)

19th January 2015, 01:28 AM	#1
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Mech is a slavic word for a straight double-edged sword. There is an equivalent to the turkish "mech" ,i.e. narrow-bladed, edge-less and very long blade suitable only for stabbing weapon, i.e. Eastern European sword called Konchar ( various writing). Amusingly, this word came from turkic languages ( handzhar is a close relative). Thus, both the Ottomans and the Slavs used the same weapon, but each called it in the opposite language: Turks took the Slavc term, and the Slavs Turkish. Fair swap :-)