Another translation request

I have been working on trying to get this translated for a while now and I don't even know what language it is in. It is etched into the blade of a Wade and Butcher that is stamped Sheffield and not Sheffield England so it would be dated to 1897 or earlier. I know of two blades with tis etch. One is mine and one belongs to Manah, an other member here on SRP. I work at the University of Rochester and had several people look at it. I was told what language it is not so I am posting a request here. I was told it is not Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindu or Turkish. I accept these inputs but I wouldn't know for sure other than that I searched a bunch of language alphabets on the net looking for the simplest of the characters and didn't find a match. I'm not even sure which side is up!

If anyone can translate this and provide the language I would appreciate it and I 'm sure Manah would also.

Elven. Could that be the razor of J.R.R. Tolkien?!?!?!

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Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

Elven. Could that be the razor of J.R.R. Tolkien?!?!?!

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Well thats freaky


http://www.omniglot.com/writing/alphabets.htm

I'm not sure what it says, but I'll bet Celebrated is in there somewhere. :D

Nice razor too, by the way. Is that a wedge? I saw one like it not too long ago
at a local place.

"Standard Guide to Razors", Roy Ritchie & Ron Stewart.

Yeah, I've got a couple of those. I don't read or write Chinese or Japanese Kanji but I've tattooed enough of it on people to know that the symbols on the blade are of the language known as gibberish. :)

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Yeah, I've got a couple of those. I don't read or write Chinese or Japanese Kanji but I've tattooed enough of it on people to know that the symbols on the blade are of the language known as gibberish. :)

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I know a lot of people who speak that language - but usually they do it when we are drinking beer! It scares me when I start speaking in toungs myself. <LOL> :beer2:

Wow, that's really interesting. It's too bad there isn't a way to go back in time and find out what those guys at W&B were smoking when they engraved those blades...

Seriously tho, how does it shave?

I would love to etch something into one of my blades.

It's very pretty, even if it doesn't mean anything :p

Joed, would it be possible for you to get me a clearer picture of just the characters?

I have a few people I'd like to show this to...

File size doesn't matter, just let me know if it's possible and I'll give you my email address :)

Thanks!

Please ...

PRETTY Please ;)

TY Manah!

Thanks all for taking the time to read through this thread and comment. Special thanks to Manah for the pics and avatar1999 for the offer to pass it around.


Miner123 - It is a wedge and probably the one you saw. I passed ut up several times due to the price. Carriem came across it while they were having a 20% off sale and thought it would be a good project razor for me and that it was a unique wedge.

avatar1999 - I haven't honed it up yet. If you look close at the pic I posted that shows the scales, the lighter areas are actually areas of the horn that were eaten away by worms over the years. The current state of the razor after I buffed up the blade can be found here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/custo...b-process.html I have custom scales in mind for this blade that will take a while to get to due to the temperature in my shop/garage. I do have a set of vintage horn scales I may put it into today and hone it up for use until I get to the custom set.


Jimmy - I am starting to think it may be gibberish too. My last thought is that it may be a secret script from a group or club.

Slartibartfast - Maybe. Or it might be something like Free Mason script or some other group.

John Crowley - Been there, done that! :rofl2:

I believe that language to be Canadian, spells "Frank's razor". I'll be out in the spring to pick it up.

Maybe it's just me, but that first bit looks like "WaDE &"

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Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Maybe it's just me, but that first bit looks like "WaDE &"

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You're right, if you really stretch it, you can get butcher out of the 2nd half too.

I think someone was near when they mentioned Elvish - I do think those could be Runes. And I'll bet that word is 'Butcher'. I have seen other razors with quasi-persian script on them by makers like Reynolds and that is what they say (in this case 'Reynolds of course!)

YAMP !!!!

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Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Maybe it's just me, but that first bit looks like "WaDE &"

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I can definitely see the B in your ampersand, and then T with a big curvy vertical, then a U on its side, with an H on its side above it, the E is in the last "character", but C and R are a stretch...

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Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Maybe it's just me, but that first bit looks like "WaDE &"

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To me, if you look closely, it appears like it could say "Celebrated." My 2 cents worth.

sure looks a little like it
Phoenician alphabet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sorry to resurrect this thread but I have an update. A while ago I contacted the webmaster at freelang.net requesting assistance in translating the script on this blade. Beaumont had exhausted his resources and posted a pic of the blade on the site as a quiz.

Here is the latest reply I received from Beaumont yesterday:

"Hello,

One of our dictionary author sent your pictures to an Institute in Frankfort, Germany, which is specialized in writing systems. Here is the reply from Dr. xxxxxxx:

"We are not aware of a writing system that looks like the shapes on your knife. We think the intended direction is upside down vs. your photos (i.e. turn photos by 180°), and that the "signs"
are designed to *look like* Chinese signs (without actually being Chinese), thence conveying a certain athmosphere. Surely this decoration is the producer's special mark."

I hope it helps :)

Best regards,
Beaumont"

Maybe.I think it's Klingon.

I think its just a bunch of made up characters that they used to promote it to the Chinese and possibly even Americans too Im always amazed at how many people have Chinese tatoos, necklace, clothing. They symbols are pretty cool on that razor

I can read this language and can confirm that it says the following
wait for it........wait for it......

" Wade & butcher "

Kind Regards, Andy.

So, another translation question.
Joseph Rodgers, Sheffield.

Alex, this is ancient inscription that says 'This razor belongs to GUGI, return it asap, or you'll sbe damned'.

Hmm...I thought, you're younger, than this razor.:rofl2::beer1:

That DOES look runic... hmm.

could this possibly be some ancient celtic langauge? due to the history of the british isles it could be some form of norse, celtic, or made up.

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Originally Posted by jeremycarriveau

could this possibly be some ancient celtic langauge? due to the history of the british isles it could be some form of norse, celtic, or made up.

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The Chinese characters on some W&Bs (you know the ones ) are made up. These are not identical at all but make me think of "The Dancing Men" in the Sherlock Holmes story. :)

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Originally Posted by BKratchmer

That DOES look runic... hmm.

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To check back in:

I had a friend of mine who is familiar with runic languages take a look at this. He said it is no writing that he can recognize, and that it is, in his opinion absolute gibberish intended to look like an Indian or Chinese script.

This is a fascinating question, and it's great to see the lengths to which you've gone to get an answer. Let me just add, as a reader of Chinese, and some Korean and Japanese, that it doesn't even LOOK Chinese.

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Yeah, I've got a couple of those. I don't read or write Chinese or Japanese Kanji but I've tattooed enough of it on people to know that the symbols on the blade are of the language known as gibberish. :)

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JimmyHAD, I'm sure you've seen this, but for everyone else out there, here is an entertaining blog about all the stupid things that people end up saying when they make poor choices about using Chinese/Japanese in their tattoos.
hanzismatter.blogspot.com

I was in Thailand a couple of years back and there were some Swedish kids staying at the hostel where we were. One kid had just that day gotten a big tattoo on his back that "said his name." When he asked me to read it I hemmed and hawed. I know he got the message that it was gibberish, even though I couldn't bring myself to tell him directly.

One word: Beware!

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Originally Posted by manah

So, another translation question.
Joseph Rodgers, Sheffield.

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Alex, I just came across a razor that bears some similarity to the etching in your Joseph Rodgers, but comes with no other identification aside from the word "Chinese" in pretty script on the blade. After looking through a few hundred pages of Chinese characters I'm ready to draw the same conclusion as others here: At one time these characters might have been based on something meaningful but were twisted to the point of obscurity. Sorry for the crap image.

http://db.tt/G4kSKOP