Like blue jeans, some weapons in fiction are standard fare for characters. Ubiquity doesn’t equal accuracy, though. How do you know where to draw the line? (Shutterstock photo)
“But ‘Switchblade’ Sounds Cooler”
I’ve beat the drum about “switchblades” and “assisted opening knives” nearly to death (see here, here and here for examples), so I wasn’t surprised to get a little pushback to my (alleged) dogma. If you don’t care to read up with those links, the nut of it is that any time you get the itch to write “switchblade” in a story set in modern times, replace it with “assisted opening knife” or “assisted opener.” One writer thanked me for the explanation, “but ‘switchblade’ sounds cooler,” so that would remain the preferred term.
The Writer's Guide to Weapons 