humunculus wrote:

I'm going to retract my assumption that its a wood-moving tool, and
put all my chips on a fish picaroon. Check out this picture from a
frozen tuna processing plant in Japan:
http://jordan.husney.com/archives/ph...12/000219.html

Although you cannot see the handle, the top of this tool is precisely
like the item you are showing us. The big bulb on the handle would be
a necessary thing to keep a grip on a slimy handle.

In this picture (strangely enough, from the same processing plant in
Japan) you can see a similar tool, but with the bulbous handle clearly
visible.
http://tinyurl.com/2xgq6z

I'm quite confident that its a fish handling tool from Japan.

That's a bit fishy. The tool you're showing has a much slimmer
handle than the one in Rob's quiz. I owned the exact tool from the
quiz and it was labeled as being a pickaroon by an extremely
knowledgeable, now deceased, collector. The knob at the end of any
tool would be useful any time the grip might slip involved - it
doesn't have to involve fish slime, sweat can be mighty slippery as
well.

The shape of the tool is extremely straightforward, and the hook and
grab move would be useful in a lot of different applications. Similar
tools, different applications. For example, I have an amazing
stainless steel elongated spatulate spreader that is useful for tile
work, spreading glue and cleaning out tiny crevices. My father, the
orthodontist who I got it from, used it for years in the dental
business! I was shocked that he didn't know what one of his own tools
was used for!

Who determines what is the correct use of a tool? The manufacturer,
the purveyor or the end user?

R