the.com/spanner
a wrench by birth, a saboteur by reputation, depending which end you grab.
means A spanner is a hand tool with shaped jaws or a hole for gripping and turning nuts, bolts, or other fasteners — what British English calls a wrench.
from From the German 'Spanner,' literally 'one that tightens or stretches,' from 'spannen,' to tighten or span — the same family that gives English 'span.' It came into English in the early 19th century as a name for the tool that winds a spring or screws things tight. The saboteur's reputation arrived later, in the phrase 'a spanner in the works,' picturing a stray tool dropped into machinery to jam it.
- twin name
- spanner and wrench mean the same tool
- works in
- thrown into machines to stop them
- origin
- named for tensioning springs in old guns
- adjustable cousin
- patented in the 1840s by Edwin Beard Budding
- slang
- british insult for a clumsy fool
the spanner murders — uk legal case (1990) involving consensual bdsm activities that led to criminal convictions
spanner festival — annual music festival in kyoto, japan since 2009