Before the days of the Square, vendors had to run a credit card through rough, bulky machine called a knucklebuster that had the capacity to do just that. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Knucklebuster”
Here’s a little language discovery for you.
Okay.
Well, this is old news, but it’s new to me.
Okay.
You ever heard the term knuckle buster?
Knuckle buster? No.
These are the old cha-chunk credit card machines. They’re called knuckle busters.
Oh, of course.
Yeah, because if you use them incorrectly, you like scrape your knuckles across the surface.
I know that very well.
Terrible devices, the ones with the carbons on them, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Knuckle buster.
Do people still use those?
Occasionally, if their little square reader’s not working.
Okay.
You know, those little devices you plug into your phone.
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