Punk (fireworks)

A lighter is shown with the flame at the tip of the punk

A punk is a smoldering stick used for lighting firework fuses.^[1] It is safer than a match or a lighter because it can be used from a greater distance and does not use an open flame. They are made of bamboo and a brown coating of compressed sawdust.^[2] Punks often resemble sticks of incense, and in some countries actual incense sticks are used in a similar fashion. Punks are sold at nearly all firework stands and many stands will include them for free with a purchase.^[3]

The term is unrelated to punk in the musical, criminal or sexual sense; it instead originally referred to materials used as tinder to light fires, derived from either the Unami punkw ('dust', 'ashes', 'powder') or English spunk, which originally meant "spark."^[4][5]

See also

• Black match
• Slow match
• Pyrotechnics
• Tinder

References

1. The Pharmaceutical Era. Vol. 52. D. O. Haynes & Company. 1919. p. 313.
2. Kosanke, K. L.; Sturman, Barry T.; Winokur, Robert M. & Kosanke, B. J. (2012). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Pyrotechnics. Journal of Pyrotechnics. p. 900. ISBN 9781889526218.
3. Kostrzak, Russell (2008). Reminiscences from the Past. R. Kostrzak.
4. "The Lenape Talking Dictionary | Detailed Entry View - ashes; dust; powder". www.talk-lenape.org.
5. Browne, Sir Thomas (November 7, 1650). "Pseudodoxia epidemica (London, 1650)" – via Internet Archive.