What do you call this?

[rivka]

 

[Jonathon]

I recognize that it's got both a bottle opener and a can opener, but to me a can opener is the thing that cuts the lid off of a can rather than just punching a hole in it. I'm not sure I've ever heard that sort of thing called a churchkey.

[Tante Shvester]

It is a church key.  It is also a can opener (pointy end) and a bottle opener (blunt end).  It has more than one name.

[rivka]

I'm not sure I've ever heard that sort of thing called a churchkey.

While to me, that is absolutely its name, and any other name for it describes only part of its functionality.

My daughter grew up hearing me (and my mom) call it a churchkey, and sent me the funniest little voice message via WhatsApp yesterday, decrying the ignorance of the others in her dorm and thanking me for educating her properly. I did a survey of my office, and among the native-American speakers, one other firmly agreed with churchkey and the other two had never heard the term.

I'm wondering now if it's a regional thing, a generational thing (with some trickle-down), or what.

[Ela]

It's a bottle opener and a can opener, but I usually call it a churchkey.

Wonder if it's a NY (and extended NY area) thing to call it that?

[Tante Shvester]

My in-laws, who lived in Atlanta, called it a church key.

[rivka]

My mom grew up in the Chicago area, and definitely grew up calling it a churchkey. Neither of her parents were East Coasters either.

[Ela]

There seem to be a few theories on the origin of the term.

[Noemon]

I've been aware of "churchkey" as a term for that all my life (or at least as far back as I can remember), but it has always seemed like a weird name to me. It wasn't what leapt to mind when I saw the original post (bottle opener was what did).

[rivka]

but it has always seemed like a weird name to me.

Well, it is. But it is also the right name.

[Noemon]