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Originally Posted by heidita  Oh, so you say "click pen"?
I don't know, is that known and used in Britain too? |
I haven't heard that phrase in Br English (although I'd understand it if someone said it - presumably it's a retractable ball-pen that clicks when you operate the mechanism). There's a huge range of words we use, and makers keep thinking up new ones. There's the trade-name Biro (pronounced /'baırəʊ/) - used as a generic term, much to the annoyance of the makers), Bic (also a trade-name, generally not used so loosely, but sometimes...), ball-pen, roller-ball (another trade-name I think), felt-tip (the sort with a FT), fine-liner; there's a new sort called a gel pen, filled with some kind of gel.
Fountain pens are still sold, and you can even get disposable ones. For added convenience (no filling from an ink bottle) you can get a thing called a 'cartridge pen' - which has liquid ink like a fountain pen but is refilled via little plastic cartridges which - when they work (!) - just push in (and the pushing in breaks a seal).
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