Cluebat!
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Hah, exactly!
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Ah yes, the brain drill. As in, “We have ways to make you talk”
I’ll see your five minutes of research and raise you 30 seconds…
Here’s another reference to a club or shillelagh, as well as the possible evolution of the term to describe the polearm. All pretty speculative, naturally.
The weapon itself, of course, is older (Wikipedia says 14th century). To the untrained eye, i.e. mine, it’s hard to distinguish it from boar spears, partisans, and other pointy sticks.
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Nice, going right back to the Grimms’ dictionary. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if they based their entry on the same reference I quoted. It seems a bit… impressionist in its interpretation. Anyway, our combined 5 1/2 min efforts seem to agree that it was first a club and later a polearm.
If you are talking about the form of the weapon alone, I would even say it goes back to the 8th century, I am pretty sure I have even seen late Merovingian examples of lug spears. And yeah, I agree, if shown this weapon my first thought would be a boar spear, especially in a late medieval and early modern context. But then again it can be both. There was never really a strict distinction being made between weapons and hunting implements except in the highest echelons of society.
Edit: I have to admit I didn’t even read the second half of the link you posted. Now that I have I feel the need to say that I absolutely do not agree with the proposed evolution of the word. Boar hunting has been an aristocratic pursuit from the early middle ages right up to the 19th century in the areas we are discussing. There is no way a boar spear would be interpreted as a peasant’s weapon. Those would be flails and other agricultural implements, as well as general purpose knives. In Bohemia specifically the dussack comes to mind as a prototypical peasant weapon adopted by the Hussites and later the military establishment.
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Seriously, if your hearing is impacted and you’ve tried the over the counter remedies, going to an ENT is much cheaper than losing your hearing.
Honestly, Frauenfelder, do you really think this is worth a Kickstarter campaign? How much do you think a motorized (and presumably microprocessor controlled) ear-wax cleaner would set you back?
Consider that the manual equivalent is readily available from China at prices less than $5 (shipping included). I doubt that the design “elegance” or “value-add” automation that Mr. Shirley gives his ear-wax remover would make that alternative worth the Kickstarter price.
From what i’ve read its not recommended to use tap water. There’s a chance that the water might have bacteria or algae, which you really really don’t want in your ear canal. Same reason why it’s strongly recommended to not use tap water when using a neti pot. If you want to keep your brain free from critters use hydrogen peroxide, filtered/distilled water, etc but not tap water.
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Mine said to boil the critters dead and wait for the water to cool down.
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My personal preference has been to opt for extreme caution, likely not of concern with boiled water but i like to have the piece of mind knowing that the rare times i do have to flush my ear i’m using something that is sterile 
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in that case, put it in as far as it will go.
This thread is further proof of the BB echo chamber.
Absolutely zero representation of anti-waxer community viewpoints…
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