"Corkscrew" or "wine key"

[Robin Garr]

In a discussion on the Louisville Restaurants Forum,
http://forums.louisvillehotbytes.com/vi ... f=1&t=9398
it came to my attention that a lot of restaurant folks - at least around the Derby City - invariably use the term "wine key" to refer to that instrument that we in the world of wine geeks call "corkscrew."

Although I've done some restaurant work and spent plenty of time observing both the front and the back of the house, this was news to me, and I'm curious if it is to you guys, too.

How familiar is the term "wine key"? Any of you even heard of it? Extra points if you can come up with an etymology.

[David M. Bueker]

People in the restaurant trade trying to confuse the general public?

Robin-
I've never heard the "wine key" expression before. Maybe it is some hillbilly derivative of the beer can opener which I've heard referred to as a "church key".

Wine key has been the usual nomenclature in my food service industry experience on both coasts (restaurant and catering). Occasionally you hear "waiter’s friend," but that's pretty rare. Corkscrew is usually a sign that someone is new to the biz.

Oh, yeah, wine key has been around in the biz for awhile. There's even a friend, a wine educator, that named her business "The Wine Key".

And of course you sometimes hear the Italian cavatappi and the French tire bouchon, but only occasionally.

I've even heard a couple of people, younger ones, actually say "rabbit" and "wine rabbit", even the first as a verb (!).

I say corkscrew, but know ex-waiters who say wine key. And recently I believe the waiter at Morton's (used to our group) asked us if we had the "pronged doohickey" (yes, Matt had an Ah-So) when a cork was crumbling.

Re the discussion on the Louisville forum- I have a gorgeous Laguiole, and it works fine, but I'm addicted to the 2-step Pulltaps.

[Robin Garr]

Re the discussion on the Louisville forum- I have a gorgeous Laguiole, and it works fine, but I'm addicted to the 2-step Pulltaps.

Same here exactly, Dale! I love the look of my Laguiole with the rosewood handles, but when I've got serious cork pullin' to do, I go to the two-stepper. (Or possibly my Italian Archimedes, which has a single lever, but it's a honker ... Craftsman-quality corkscrew, er, wine key, with classy brushed-aluminum Italian styling. They named it after the guy who conceptualized the lever for a reason. Cheaper than a Laguiole, too.

I can't understand the compulsive need of some people to change vocabulary ; is it a sort of insider code word?. "Corkscrew" is a perfectly satisfactory word and I, for one, would not know (up to now) what is meant by "Wine Key". As I now live outside the UK, I don't know whether the British catering business has adopted this new usage.

This is the first time I have heard of 'wine key' and I can't see the advantage of such generic name over wine opener.

To me a corkscrew is an opener with a screw. The 'butlers friend' (what Americans call an ah-so) isn't a corkscrew for that reason. They're not common here.

The 'waiters friend' is the type of folding corkscrew that can be easily carried in a pocket, as shown in Robin's picture.

Though I don't think that picture shows a good modern example. The type I prefer has a Teflon screw and a double lever action.

he type I prefer has a Teflon screw and a double lever action.

That's what I was referencing (Pulltap is best known brand)
http://www.corkscrew-mart.com/pulltap-corkscrew.html

This is the first time I have heard of 'wine key' and I can't see the advantage of such generic name over wine opener.

At least I understand "wine opener" which is an clear term covering all opening devices; the two pronged, gas injecting pin, etc. as well as corkscrew. What I don't see is the need to substitute some other term for "corkscrew" which is the most common type. The "waiters friend" is a compact corkscrew.

RANT - most corkscrews are not long enough. Unless I use screwpull, close to half the corks in my bottles of more than 10 years old break up during extraction.

This is the first time I have heard of 'wine key' and I can't see the advantage of such generic name over wine opener.

At least I understand "wine opener" which is an clear term covering all opening devices; the two pronged, gas injecting pin, etc. as well as corkscrew. What I don't see is the need to substitute some other term for "corkscrew" which is the most common type. The "waiters friend" is a compact corkscrew.

RANT - most corkscrews are not long enough. Unless I use screwpull, close to half the corks in my bottles of more than 10 years old break up during extraction.

In my understanding, corkscrew and wine key are not synonyms. There's all sorts of corkscrew-based devices which are not folding, not compact, and not useful for wine service in a restaurant. The wine key is a specific subtype, not a synonym for the whole class of corkscrews.

Is the term wine key being used because of the wish to avoid the word 'screw' ??

Where’s Bob Ross? (Sure do miss him). I have heard the terms “Church Key” or “Bar Blade” being used for bottle openers (crown caps). Certain canned foods such as hams and sardines came in tin cans with “keys” attached to open them. So I would assume the term “Wine Key” came about the same time, early 1900’s.

Salute

[David M. Bueker]

Well here's a couple of interesting data points (or not).

I did a Google search on wine key & got 83 million hits. Do the same on corkscrew & I get 2.4 million.

On the other hand, corkscrew has its own Wikipedia entry, where wine key is just part of the wine accessories entry.

One thing that does seem to show no matter what links I look at is that the wine key is a specific type of corkscrew, essentially the waiter's friend (or enemy depending on the waiter). So perhaps the wine key thing is merely a subset of corkscrew & refers to only that specific type of device. Corkscrew is then the general category.

David, Hi...

You must be using Google in a way unknown to me. When I Google "wine key" (in quotes) I got 110,000 hits. On corkscrew, like you, I got over 2 million.

Until this post, I'd heard the expression "wine key" only once and that was in a steak house in Atlanta, Georgia. I do agree with David that the term "corkscrew" is generic, and then needs to be clarified by the type of corkscrew in question (e.g. waiter's friend, butterfly, etc).

And then there is of course the old, old standby illustrated below. I still have a couple of antique ones like that at hand but never use them. Does anyone still rely on these?

corkscrew.jpg

I don't like wine key. Makes the cork sound like a chastity belt. With that in mind, corkscrew is much worse. Can we come up with a politically correct term?

[David M. Bueker]

Can we come up with a politically correct term?

Please no.

How about "Closure Opener"

How about "Closure Opener"

I like it. ClOp.

[Robin Garr]

Is the term wine key being used because of the wish to avoid the word 'screw' ??

This is American restaurant server slang, Peter. They are generally not upset by vulgar language. I think you're baying down a blind alley with that one.

[Robin Garr]

I did a Google search on wine key & got 83 million hits.

Rogov got it right, David. A search on [ wine key ] without quotes will find any document with the words "wine" and "key" in it anywhere. To find specific uses of "wine key" as a joined pair of words, you need to search for the term in quotes. When Rogov did that, the numbers made a lot more sense.

[Robin Garr]

Does anyone still rely on these?

Maybe I just have weak arms, but I cannot get a cork out with one of those things for the life of me. Archimedes invented the lever (or, rather, described it) for a reason. It works. Furthermore, the waiter's model, folding like a pocket knife, is a lot easier to carry around in your pocket.

[Jenise]

I can't understand the compulsive need of some people to change vocabulary ; is it a sort of insider code word?.

Right, proves you're an insider. And the wine itself is not wine it's "juice", as in "that is some serious juice."