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"Biro" is British Isles (and elsewhere?, but not US) slang for a ballpoint pen, from László Bíró, the inventor of the modern ballpoint pen.
by neonscribe 7y ago
"Biro" is British Isles (and elsewhere?, but not US) slang for a ballpoint pen, from László Bíró, the inventor of the modern ballpoint pen.
- mhh__ 7y agoSimilar to Hoover <=> Vacuum Cleaner
- ncmncm 7y agoAnd Crapper, supposedly. But that's disputed.
- Sniffnoy 7y agoThat's not disputed, that's just straight-up false. The earliest record of the word "crap" -- and that's counting just "crap", not the earlier words it's derived from -- is in 1846, when Thomas Crapper would have been just 9 years old.
- foldingmoney 7y agoA case of nominative determinism?
- alias_neo 7y agoHuh, thanks, as 30 something Brit, I didn't know why we called it a Biro, and I never thought to ask why!
- tomcooks 7y agoItalian too
- lostlogin 7y agoIt’s Biro in New Zealand too.