It is curious how the use of something can change over time. Like the tailbone or the appendix, many things have survived from the past that have lost all reasons to survive. Yet they do survive, clueless dinosaurs from a previous age that have adapted themselves to newer uses, becoming a croc or a lizard in the process. The lanyard, that curious piece of string that pops up in all places and comes attached with all sorts of things, is one such remnant of a previous age.

It is uncertain as to when the first lanyard came up. And for what purpose. Being basically a piece of string it could have found some useful business in a previous day. Nor can it be said with any conviction that its primary and first use were defined in the army camps of pre-modern Europe. Chances are variants of lanyard were used in other lands for other purposes