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When I was younger, I had a friend give me a gift. I asked,
“What is this?” He answered, “It’s a “SHAHPEN”. I was grateful
for the gift, but I was confused by the word.
This word originally came from two words, sharp and pencil.
These two words were shortened and combined to form the word,
“シャーペン”. Now, of course, “shahpen” is not a proper English word.
The proper term for this writing tool is “mechanical pencil”
or “ever sharp”.
Now most Americans do not use either of these words. Although
this is not a real wooden pencil, most Americans refer to this
tool simply as “pencil”. Of course, this is not correct, but
Americans often use incorrect slang in their everyday conversational
language.
Next time, instead of saying “shahpen”, just use the word, “pencil”
and anyone will understand you.
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