Concertina wire takes its name from the concertina, an accordion-like instrument whose bellows fold in and out. The term fits the World War I innovation: coiled barbed or razor wire that travels compactly, then expands to fill space atop a fence, wall, or barricade. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Why “Concertina Wire” Is Named for an Accordion-Like Instrument”
Grant, I’ve been reading about barbed wire.
Barbed wire?
Of course, yes.
Because it never occurred to me why we call that spiral kind of wire on top of a fence.
Oh, I was thinking about Pamela Anderson.
You’re talking about the fence.
Yeah, you know, the concertina wire that’s sort of spiral and it’s on top of a fence.
Yeah, the razor wire.
Yeah.
You know what they call it, concertina wire?
This never occurred to me until yesterday.
No?
Because you know what a concertina is?
It’s sort of a little accordion-like instrument.
And this was an innovation in World War I that they started using wire that was coiled and sort of kept that round shape so that it was sort of like it.
It sort of expanded to fill the space.
Yes, yes.
It travels well and can be expanded easily.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it’s like an accordion.
Never occurred to me.
Concertina wire.
I thought it was like from some kind of musical instrument like the wire strings.
I just thought maybe it was a brand name.
I had no idea.
Yeah.
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