"Snickersnee?"

[fearn]

I just ran into this wonderful term again. It's supposedly a corruption of the dutch for "thrust and cut," and in Victorian England, it supposedly went from a term for knife fighting to mean a large, sword-like knife. It also made an appearance in Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado (who was wearing a snickersnee in one verse).

My question: has anyone ever seen a large, late Victorian knife or sword actually labelled as a snickersnee, or was it just a word? Since it showed up in the Mikado, I'm also wondering if perhaps it had something to do with Japanese blades, and Victorian misperceptions of these weapons.

Best,

F