Quote:
Originally Posted by heidita  ...
I certainly do not. A fountain pen not only has "flowing ink" or cartridges, but it also has a completely different tip, namely a feather (I don't know if you call this feather, I am translating).
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I'll stay out of the controversy (there is an interesting phrasal verb that comes to mind: "to wimp out"
), but you may be interested to know that our word "pen" is related etymologically to the Latin
pinna, meaning "feather" (not
derived, but sharing the same Indo-European background). The only words I can think of off the top of my head that
are so derived are 'pinnace' (a vaguely feather-shaped sailing boat) and 'pinnate' (a botanical word used to describe feather-shaped leaves).
b