What is the musician's slang for their instrument?

myrab51

Axe - ANY musical instrument. Ex: Man, - what do you think of my new Axe? http://nfo.net/usa/slang.html Sep 08 07, 1:45 PM

Baloo55th

It's not the slang for any instrument that I play - and I play quite a few (about 20 or so...). Sep 08 07, 4:17 PM

zbeckabee

You'll find several entrys in the Urban Dictionary for AXE being a musician's instrument...That's probably as good a source as any on this topic. Originally, an AXE was an electric guitar (as in Jimi Hendrix) and I have heard it used with regards to other instruments. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=axe Sep 08 07, 6:04 PM

Baloo55th

There are many different types of musician. Certain ones have distinctive terminologies - like jazz musicians referring to the tenor saxophone as a tenor horn in disregard of the existence of an instrument already known as a tenor horn (found mainly in brass bands) and of the fact that the saxophone is not a horn. Axe is a term only used in pop/rock music. You won't find it in classical, folk or brass and wind band circles at all - to name the three I've had most involvement with. And on the occasions I've appeared with a rock outfit, none of them used the term either. There is no general term used by the majority musicians to refer to an otherwise unspecified instrument. Other than instrument..... Sep 08 07, 6:16 PM

zbeckabee

Axe, in popular music, an electric guitar or a wind instrument. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axe_%28disambiguation%29 Slang A musical instrument, especially a guitar. http://www.ask.com/reference/dictionary/ahdict/59890/axe Blog: "Anyway, I digress…I was discussing the definition of axe recently and trying to decide whether it applied to all musical instruments or just jazz-associated ones (which could give a pretty broad sweep, anyway)." http://blog.bigwaveheuristics.com/ The newsgroup posts at the link below say that "axe" was a common term for musical instruments back in the 40's and 50's. http://p211.ezboard.com/fwordoriginsorgfrm9.showMessage?topicID=500.topic Sep 08 07, 9:23 PM

zbeckabee

So...I think we can safely say that some people use the term AXE for their guitars, some use the term AXE for a wide range of instruments and some don't use it at all. Sep 08 07, 9:24 PM