Alright, does the term "Ricasso" only refer to an unsharpened section or does it refer to the first two inches or so of any swordblade whatsoever?

This is one of my "Questioning my preconceptions' questions.

I've heard words like these:

"....and features an unsharpened ricasso..."

so often, that the implication has been 'some ricasso were sharp." Therefore Ricasso became (to me) an 'area' of blade rather then an unsharpened specific addition.

So, I was trying to find out the German word for Ricasso, so I could say "You press your thumb against the Ricasso when you krumphau..." without borrowing from the Italians for the term, when I came across this question.

BTW, what IS the German for Ricasso?

thank you! How is that pronounced? Fell-sharF? Fella-sharf? Sharf being not unlike um.... Smurf?

Hi George,

It would be pronounced similarly to fail-share-fuh. Just don't pronounce the first ai sound so ale or hey sounding as they do in American. And not drawn-out long either.

The best way I can describe the smooth German ehl sound is halfway between the English feel and eh pronounciations.
Usually somewhat tough to get right the first time around by a person used to speaking American English all their life.

Hope that helped...

Sounds like a good description to my german ears. Not quite on point, but i can't think of a better one.