church_key oren [Q] From Stan Kid: “Do you know how the term church key came to_be used as a slang for a bottle opener? The best info I could find dates the usage to 1951 in_the United States, but I_can find no specifics.” [A] This one is getting a little long in_the tooth, like its users (such as me), who can remember when beer always came in bottles fitted with caps that needed a special tool to open them (though the more macho or foolish would show off by opening them with their teeth; gripping bottle tops in a vice between door and doorframe was a trick for emergencies, but only when the door belonged to somebody else). The standard bottle opener was made of metal, with a roughly round, oval or triangular open shape at one end to grip the cap. The shape of the business end of the tool reminded people of the often ornate handles to big, old-fashioned door keys. The link with churches in particular was surely because in the experience of most people such big keys opened church doors. It’s also more than probable that an irreverent joke was attached as well, in that drinking beer was an unchurchly thing to_do. Before the messages start to_be written, let me rapidly move on to a further stage in the development of the term. As you_say, the phrase church key is only recorded in print from 1951, though there is much anecdotal evidence to suggest it is rather older in_the spoken language, perhaps from the late 1930s. This was around the time at which beer began to be sold in cans rather than bottles. These early cans also needed a tool to open them, since the pull tabs of today were not to_be introduced until about 1962. The tool was a stout flat strip of metal with a sharp point, which you pressed into the top of the can to puncture a triangular hole (two were needed on opposite sides, I recall, to let air in so the beer would flow easily). By an obvious analogy, these also came to be called church keys, even though they were a completely different shape. ~Michael Quinion 051127 ... TROUBLESUM i use popsicles to break into my church. they usually melt half way... god hates me! 051128 ... andru235 i feel like i've heard this phrase used before to that end, but i'm not sure. at any rate, it would also be fitting since some people apparently find their way to god (Dionysus?) via the "church_key" you mentioned. 051128 what's it to you? who go blather from