Though it's not common to hear the word dirk these days, the weapon was frequently carried by naval officers during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. As recently as World War Two, members of the Japanese navy used dirks in hand-to-hand combat. The word is associated with Scotland, although its precise origin is a little murky — it was originally spelled dork or durk, possibly from the Dutch dolk by way of the German dolch, or "dagger."