Talk:Church key

Failed AFD
See Articles for deletion/Churchkey. Johnleemk | Talk 10:53, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

Previously put on article page
A Churchkey is slang for a CAN opener NOT a bottle opener although most "churckeys" have a bottle opener on the opposite end. It is a Specific TYPE of can opener, it makes a triangular shaped hole and is used to punture METAL cans not just "tin cans" for pouring or drinking. The latter "drinking" being the key (sorry for the pun) to it's purpose. The use of the word "church" is to describe the steeple found in churches or resembling the shape of hands held in prayer and the word "key" refers to it being able to open a beer can for the most part. Hence the term "Churchkey" was used mostly to camoflauge it's use of opening beer cans in the days before flip tops. The term was created for this purpose and seldom if ever used for anything other than opening beer cans until the nickname was firmly established. It's origins are a mystery with many laying claim to have coined the term. This makes for great drinking debates. In the days before flip tops liquor stores often gave them away as bling with a brand name on it. Beer companies would often use them as a chance to advertise and were quite inventive and fun i.e making them to fit on a key chain to always be prepared. There were also well made. These days when one buys a churchkey it is for kitchen use most if not all stand alone churchkeys made today are made of poorest quality steel often bending in half w/out opening the can, even an aluminum can. Sad. They also cost money and are no longer given away. Please note the term "churchkey" does NOT apply to the sardine type can. That is called a "wind-up" key because of it's resemblence to keys used to wind up toys and clocks. -- Unsigned, posted by defunct user Mr.knowitallSr.

Suggested merge
There really isn't enough unique information here to justify a standalone article. Pjbflynn 01:14, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Since the word churchkey includes certain types of can openners, it would be perverse to merge it with bottle openner. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.164.116.233 (talk) 14:15, August 26, 2007 (UTC)

Don't Merge As I also said in bottle opener, "wikipedia is not a paper encyclopedia" and the term is worthy of a seperate article because it is more than a bottle opener (it opens cans as well) and because of the long use of the term in the US. It needs work, but that is not a reason to merge, per policy. Pharmboy 01:31, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

Don't Merge Just saw a history channel special that said that a church key was an easily available weapon that heavily influenced gang development in the US. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.202.112.76 (talk) 06:33, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

Removing tag It has been over 6 months, no real objection to leaving it as a seperate article shown. Pharmboy (talk) 01:28, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

Actually
These were used to open at least one church. The church wasn't built too tightly (even though it was in the northern climes), and this fit inbetween the door and the jam, and was used to lever back the bolt. Granted, this may have been a particular instance, but it's as verified/cited (or more, as I could get a notorized statement from witnesses) as some of those rumors above. ~ender 2007-06-26 10:39:AM MST

Picture history
I corrected the historic sequence in the article. Before you revert, please carefully study the pictures at http://www.just-for-openers.org/Church-Key.html which make it totally obvious where the term Church Key comes from, and that it applied to simple bottle cap removers, before beer cans were invented. The article needs a photo of one of these old bottle cap devices, and a picture of an old key -- maybe in the same photo ideally? -69.87.200.181 (talk) 03:17, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

Removed
I removed the following from the article, because it just isn't true:

"The term "church key" is the only term in general common use in the U.S. for this simple device; the term "can opener" is reserved for a more complex tool that cuts around the rim of the can — which is not required to simply pour out liquids, and it takes longer to use, and it creates a loose lid with a sharp dangerous edge."

Someone can put the comparison between the simple device and the more complex one back in if they want, but it's false that church key is "the only term in general common use in the U.S." for the simple device. 145.116.8.66 (talk) 04:43, 13 January 2009 (UTC)


 * I've never heard them referred to as "church keys". When I was a small Mr Larrington living in Hong Kong, every case of Tiger beer came with one and we called them "can openers", or "spanners" if we were being ironic.  The tool used for opening cans of soup, beans etc. was the "tin opener".Mr Larrington (talk) 15:32, 12 March 2010 (UTC)


 * I think the key words you missed were "in the U.S.". e.g. I've never heard "tin opener" - or for that matter "spanner", ironically or otherwise - used in the US, except perhaps by foreigners, or someone putting on a British affectation. In the US I have indeed heard "church key", as well as "bottle opener", used, and would agree that "can opener" would more likely refer to the complex device, in the US. -- 174.21.225.115 (talk) 15:53, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

North American usage only?
I'm British and I've never heard of those things being called a "curch key" before. In any case, it is customary here to leave most churches unlocked, especially in rural areas, so "church key" would be an unfamiliar phrase. We would call them bottle openers. 78.149.246.255 (talk) 14:58, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Canadian usage
In Canada, the term "church key" currently refers to any device for removing bottle caps. The devices often have a can opener as well, but this is not required for a church key. The term seems to be more common in "middle aged" Canadians, the younger twist-off generation doesn't use this term anymore.

External links modified
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External links modified
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Requested move 28 July 2018

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: moved as requested. I have never heard this term either, but the move itself appears to be uncontroversial since no other article applicable to the target has been proposed. Whether a merge or some other change should occur can continue to be discussed and is outside the scope of this close. Dekimasu よ! 18:10, 4 August 2018 (UTC)

Churchkey → Church key – A preponderance of the article's sources and web materials use a space. Raw web hits or Google Books data are of limited use due to numerous false positives for "real" church keys and saloons of that name, but a perusal of the text of the results shows more sources using a space: "church key" beer vs. "churchkey" beer. —  AjaxSmack  15:05, 28 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Is this usage of "church key" American only? To me here in England, "church key" only means the key to a church. Anthony Appleyard (talk) 16:35, 28 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Sounds like a colloquial Americanism to me too - encyclopaedic name should be "Crown cork opener" or suchlike. --Mervyn (talk) 17:45, 29 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Except that "crown cork opener" is not particularly common, and church keys also include "simple bottle openers". —  AjaxSmack 23:00, 29 July 2018 (UTC)
 * The articles "Churchkey" and "simple bottle openers" don't have the same definition or images of what a churchkey is. --Mervyn (talk) 07:38, 30 July 2018 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

"Paint Can Openers include bottle openers"
The last sentence in the history section cites the Lowes hardware store and links to its shop. Is this a good source? Is this bit of information relevant here? It might be better on bottle opener. --Chrki (talk) 18:43, 5 September 2018 (UTC)