Smylee. A little different. The ricasso id a thick section of the blade usually rectangular in cross section. It is a carryover from the sword and usually appears on knives with a cross guard, The choil is only on knives where the blade is wider than the handle. It can go down vertical, like on a French Chef's knife, or it can go out to the full blade width on a taper or a convex curve, like a typical butcher knife, or a concave curve, like on this knife. The ricasso makes the back of the blade stronger, the choil helps to keep you from cutting your finger on the blade. The little semi-circular notch at the end of the choil lets your finger know it is about to go too far.