pens (was Phoneme winnowing continues)

>I've never heard "biro" and "ballpoint pen" I've heard, but not very
>often.
>
>I normally just say "pen" anyways, and think nothing of the homphony
>with "pin".
I've never heard "biro", but grew up saying "ballpoint" or "ballpoint pen"
to differentiate them from "ink pen" or "fountain pens", the latter of which
was still a part of the writing arsenal in my parents' household. Somewhere
along the years, for me: "ballpoint" has become "pen", "razor point" has
been added, and "ink pen" has become "nib" (even though this actually should
refers to just the copper or steel point).

BTW, for me, the writing emplement "pen" is [pEn] - rhymes with "pet", but
the enclosure for animals "pen" is [pIn], rhymes with "pit".

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