Re: National Pencil Day (30 March)

On 2024-04-02 20:23:53 +0000, Ross Clark said:

Sorry, I got behind. Too late for you to celebrate.
 (1) I like pencils. I rejoice when I find one, among the heaps of dead and dying ballpoint pens,

I'm the reverse. We have masses of pencils that I never want to use, but if I want a ballpoint that works I can't find one. From time to time I buy a set of four at the supermarket and within a short time they all go wherever ballpoints go. I have a fountain pen that I used during the early days of Covid, but I haven't used it for a long time -- getting too old, 81 today.

 in the kitchen. I can use it to add something to the shopping list. If the point's broken or dull, I have a little pencil sharpener that can fix it. Old tech, still works. Pencil keeps on working until it's...gone!
 (2) First appears in English ca.1350 meaning a small fine-tipped paint brush. (Its closest cognate is French pinceau, which still means 'paint brush'.) The device we now know as a "pencil" was invented in the 16th century, and the earliest attestations use expressions like "pencil of black lead" -- the graphite came from Borrowdale (Cumbria), and was at first mistaken for a lead ore.
 (3) Etymology: Not related to "pen" (Latin penna 'feather').
But related to "penis" (Latin pe:nis 'tail', pe:nicillum 'paint brush').

--
Athel -- French and British, living in Marseilles for 37 years; mainly in England until 1987.