Poll of the Day > How short does the handle on a spear have to be before it becomes a dagger?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm trying to name a weapon one of the antagonists in a story of mine uses but I'm not sure if it's a spear or a dagger honestly. Don't want nerds with too much free time on their hands correcting me about it down the road.
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Eh

The thing about weapon classifications is that they were mostly established by historians long after the fact

So really they're not as hard and fast as some people like to think

Just go with whatever

Or write it such that the PoV character doesn't know the difference and describes it as being one or the other

Or make up your own name for it
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A better question would be whether or not a "dagger on a stick" goes through a phase where it's actually technically a sword before it becomes a spear.

Because a sword isn't necessarily just "long blade with handle". Stuff like the Aztec macuahuitl count as swords, in spite of pretty much just being "cricket bat with razor-blades taped to the edges".


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Call it a halburd because nobody knows what that is, and it will annoy even more people.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

A better question would be whether or not a "dagger on a stick" goes through a phase where it's actually technically a sword before it becomes a spear.

Because a sword isn't necessarily just "long blade with handle". Stuff like the Aztec macuahuitl count as swords, in spite of pretty much just being "cricket bat with razor-blades taped to the edges".

And then you have the naginata which opens up a whole new can of worms...or the yari for that matter.
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