Today is National Inventors Day. To celebrate here's the story of bic and biro pens. #etymology 🧵 Bic, like biro, is a trademark used to describe a ballpoint pen. - ThreadSky

About ThreadSky

wordfoolery.bsky.social • 14 days ago

Today is National Inventors Day. To celebrate here's the story of bic and biro pens. #etymology 🧵

Bic, like biro, is a trademark used to describe a ballpoint pen.

Comments

wordfoolery.bsky.social•14 days ago

2) Bic is a shortened version of the surname of Marcel Bich (1914-1994) the French co-founder, with Edouard Buffard, of the Bic Corporation which began existence making parts for fountain pens and mechanical pencils. Bich introduced the ballpoint pen in 1949.

wordfoolery.bsky.social•14 days ago

3) Biro is a trademark used to describe a particular type of ballpoint pen and is named for its Hungarian inventor László Jozsef Biró (1900-1985). He patented his pen, containing quick-drying ink, in 1938 in Hungary but the rise of Nazism saw him relocate to Argentina.

wordfoolery.bsky.social•14 days ago

4) His pen proved popular. RAF pilots found it worked better at high altitudes than fountain pens. Towards the end of World War II he found an English company to back his invention but it was soon taken over by the Bic Corporation.

wordfoolery.bsky.social•14 days ago

5) Now in France a ballpoint is called a bic, but in the U.K. it’s a biro.

Love inventors? Many feature in "How to Get Your Name in the Dictionary" https://amzn.to/2ygxZMH

Posting Rules

Be respectful to others
No spam or self-promotion
Stay on topic
Follow Bluesky's terms of service

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply