How did prison warders get the nickname "screws"?

Answer 1

Funnily enough, a teacher at school continually tells me the story of how prison wardens got the name screws, i always wondered when the knowledge would come in handy, and now it has! he told me that back in the old days, prisoners were made to do pointless tasks during the day, one of the most common was to turn the handle of a machine. each prisoner was told how many turns they would have to do a day, if a prisoner was thought to be turning to quickly, the warden would tighten a screw in the handle machine to make it harder to turn, thus gaining the wardens the title Screws!

Answer 2

This goes back to the days of prisoners doing labour by winding a handle on a box.
The prisoners had to turn the handle a set number of times.

To make the work harder, these boxes were fitted with screws which varied the tension on the device.

The prison warders would come and turn the screw to set how hard the prisoner had to work.

Answer 3

2 possibilities:

Sense of "means of pressure or coercion" is from 1648, probably in ref. to instruments of torture (e.g. thumbscrews). Meaning "prison guard, warden" is 1812 in underworld slang, originally in reference to the key they carried.

Answer 4

screws lock up dont they ?

Answer 5

Here is all you need to know
http://www.uttertrivia.com/prisonofficersscrews.php

Answer 6

Because tey are always trying to keep you down??????