----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark J. Reed" <markjreed@...>
To: <CONLANG@...>
Sent: Friday, June 06, 2003 5:47 PM
Subject: Re: Phoneme winnowing continues
> On Fri, Jun 06, 2003 at 05:38:56PM +1000, Tristan McLeay wrote:
> > >Thus the seemingly redundant word "inkpen" used to distinguish the
[pIn]
> > >you
> > >write with from the [pIn] you stick through things. :)
> > >
> > >
> > Are 'biro' and 'ballpoint pen' not used in America?
>
> To second John's reply: I've also never heard "biro" before.
> I assume it was originally a brand name that became generic?
> Does it refer to all pens, or just ballpoints, or what?
Biro means a ballpoint pen. Particularly ones made of clear plastic. I
think someone called Biro was the inventor of the ballpoint pen.