Shiv (weapon)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the knife-like weapon. For the Hindu God, see Shiva.

A Prison shiv christened the "Throat cutter"

A shiv (from the Romani word chiv) is a slang term for a sharp or pointed implement used as an improvised knife-like weapon. The shiv is the favored weapon of inmates in prisons across the world. It is famous for its versatility - a shiv can be anything from a glass shard with cloth wrapped around one end to form a handle, to a razorblade stuck in the end of a toothbrush, to a sharpened spoon. Some inmates have even sharpened the ends of pork chop bones to make them into weapons.

A related term is shank or shift (shift, to shift, to be shifted). While the words are used interchangeably, the difference is that a shank is a type of shiv that is fashioned from the metal shank of a prison-issued boot or shoe. Since inmates were able to fashion effective shivs out of metal shanks, most (if not all) prisons no longer issue footwear with metal shanks. Many people have been killed by attackers using shanks while serving time in prison. Shank is sometimes also used as a verb, meaning "To stab someone, usually with a shiv, multiple times in a quick succession." Shank as a verb is also widely used in the online gaming community to describe someone killing another player with a knife, IE "Player1 was shanked by Player2." Another related term is the Scottish slang word, chib. To chib is to stab or slash with a sharp weapon. The weapon can also be called a chib.

[edit] Popular culture

The word "shank" is generally used to describe the killing of a character or a other player, during internet play, with a knife

In Truman Capote's nonfiction novel In Cold Blood, Dick Hickock fashioned a shiv out of a toilet brush while imprisoned in the hopes of stabbing the undersheriff and escaping to Colorado. However, it was soon discovered under his mattress and confiscated.

The character Richard B. Riddick in the films Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick coined the term "shiv-happy".

Shivs are a frequently used form of weapon in The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

In the 2000 movie Chopper, based on the life of famed Australian criminal and best-selling author Mark Brandon Read, the legendary crime figure "shivs" a fellow inmate (a character based on Keith Faure), killing him. Though it's debatable that this ever happened as Chopper himself says "Never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn".

The webcomic 8-Bit Theater made a strip involving the use of a "healing shiv", spoofing the use of weapons with healing properties popular in many video games. Unlike most such weapons, the healing shiv had to be used to stab the patient first. This joke has been referenced frequently by other sources.

In the 1995 movie The Usual Suspects criminal Dean Keaton tells the fence Redfoot that he "shived" a man named "old Spook". After Redfoot questions if it is business or personal, Keaton replies that it was little bit of both.

In "A safe place", Lorenzo Carcaterra describes his father murdering another inmate in prison with a "shank".

In the popular Web Toon, Homestar Runner, Strong Sad sends a letter to the jailed Strong Bad. The letter ends "Hoping you don't get shivved... Strong Sad."

In the 2005/2006 Television show Prison Break, about a man who was sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit and the lengths that his brother will go to save him, shanks make various appearances throughout.

In the HBO series Oz, shanks are used frequently to commit murders, attack inmates, or for other uses.

A shiv is featured in the video game The Suffering, a third-person shooter that takes place in a prison, as the first weapon the player picks up.

"Shank" is a popular word among gamers. It is used as a verb in place of the words "cut" or "stab". It's used mostly by Counter-Strike players, but can be used to describe any sort of cut with a knife.

In the 1998 game, Fallout 2, a shiv can be found and used as a melee weapon.

In the very final episode of the series Seinfeld, Jerry is doing a stand-up routine in prison and makes the joke "I mean when I was a kid my mother wanted me to play in the yard. But of course she didn't have to worry about my next door neighbor Tommy sticking a shiv in my thigh."

In the 1993 movie So I Married An Axe Murderer, Phil Hartman's character, an Alcatraz tour guide called Vickie, makes reference to a shanking perfomed with "a makeshift knife, or 'shiv'"

In the comedy series NewsRadio (episode: Stupid Holiday Charity Talent Show, 16-Dec-1997), Phil Hartman's character, Bill McNeal the on air personality, makes reference to being terrified by his boss Dave Nelson played by actor Dave Foley after Foley's character revealed a secret talent of knife throwing for the annual talent show, saying "we are terrified that you would shove a shiv in our backs."

In the Dr. Dre song "Lil Ghetto Boy" from the album The Chronic, Snoop Doggy Dogg describes the bleak drama of prison life with prominent mention of shanking.

The Daily Show made light of the Cynthia McKinney's assault of a Capitol Policeman, part of which involved her throwing a cellphone at an officer, by saying that she was just showing off her new phone: The SHIV, by Motorola, in parody of the RAZR and ROKR which were new at the time.

In the 1996 movie Freeway, the character Vanessa, played by Reese Witherspoon, slashes a prison guard with a shiv she fashioned by melting and sharpening the bristles of a toothbrush.