Re: Phoneme winnowing continues
From: | Ian Spackman <ianspackman@...> |
Date: | Saturday, June 7, 2003, 10:16 |
At 06:58 07/06/03, you wrote:
>Tristan McLeay wrote:
> > Are 'biro' and 'ballpoint pen' not used in America?
>
>I've never heard "biro" and "ballpoint pen" I've heard, but not very
>often.
I never heard "biro" in Canada apart from from my English parents. I think
it may be getting rarer in Britain, belonging more to my parents'
generation, but I could be wrong.
But Americans who have read _The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy_ books may
recall a reference to supposed biroid life forms, even if they didn't get
the joke at the time.
Ian
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