Why is a Stanley knife called 'Stanley'?
Question:Always wondered!
Answers:
That's the original manufactures name.
This type of tool is known in British English, Australian English and New Zealand English as a Stanley knife, after one of the first manufacturers to create this kind of implement. The genuine Stanley knife has a cast-metal body, and comes both in retractable versions and in fixed blade versions which allow no depth adjustment.
The company that brought out Stanley knives was called Stanley. They were the only distributers for a while and the name stuck.
They have never been called that in the U.S., to my knowledge. Stanley is an early tool manufacturer here, but I've only ever heard of them being referred to as matt knives, or box cutters, after their uses. Stanley was never the ONLY manufacturer, but they were the consumer level version, so, perhaps when they went global as a company, it stuck that way.
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