Re: OT: Another Portuguese (?) question

I can't help, really, other than to point out that "katana" is, IIRC,
both the general word for "sword" as an overarching weapon class, and
also a more specific term for the particular  variety of long sword
that constitutes the "dai" in the traditional Samurai two-sword set
(called "daishoo", which is a portmanteau of "daitoo" = long sword +
"shootoo" = short sword).  The smaller sword is called a "wakizashi".

Benefits of having a best friend in high school who wanted to be a
ninja. (And therefore thought the curvature of the katana a waste of
metal when compared to the straighter sword associated with the
assassins, which he called a ninjatoo).

Again IIRC, the morpheme "too" that appears in "daishoo" and "shootoo"
(and "ninjatoo") means "blade"; it also appears in "tantoo"="knife".
The rule of thumb is that blades under one foot are tantoo, blades of
1-2 feet are shootoo, and blades of 2+ feet are daishoo.

(Technically the unit is the Japanese shaku rather than the English
foot, but they are approximately equivalent at about 30 cm).

If you need any more useless information only tangentially related to
your actual question, you know where to find me.

:)

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