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I've heard people argue that a dull knife is more likely to cut you than a sharp one. The argument is that you are more likely to cut yourself by applying too much pressure with the dull knife. When too much pressure is applied, you jeopardize your control over the knife and it puts you in a position to cut yourself.

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To my experience, the cutting "trajectory" (not sure if that's the right vocab) of a dull knife is less consistent and less controllable than a sharpened one, and is more subject to be influenced by the texture of the material being cut, especially cutting something hard, thick and fiber-ish such as carrot or big melon.

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  • I like the term "trajectory", too much pressure applied to a knife with an unstable trajectory can result in injury!
    – Tyler
    Commented Dec 29, 2011 at 6:55
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    Imagine cutting a large tomato. With a sharp knife, the blade slices into the skin and straight down through the flesh without a problem. With a dull knife, you have to push down hard to try and pierce the skin, with an increased risk of it just slipping off to the side and into your fingers or hand.
    – ElendilTheTall
    Commented Dec 29, 2011 at 8:24

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