Why is a pencil called a pencil?
Source:
|
Author:BEST
|
Published time: 2020-03-26
|
483 Views
|
Share:
In ancient times, there was a thing used for writing called "lead powder" (not a simple powder of lead, nor is it the "lead powder" used for painting or women’s cosmetics. That is white, this is black).
In ancient times, there was a thing used for writing called "lead powder" (not a simple powder of lead, nor is it the "lead powder" used for painting or women’s cosmetics. That is white, this is black). There is an idiom called "Have a lead and raise the bark." The ancients used wooden tablets to write, and "椠" was the wooden tablet before the words were written. This idiom is about taking a pen and paper with you and memorizing an inspirational article when you need it. Pens written with "lead powder" are called "lead chalk" or simply "pencils". The Southern Dynasties Xiao Liang Ren Yansheng "Writing for Fan Shixing to Establish the Dazai Tablet Table": "People accumulate oil, and their families carry pencils."
Later, western graphite pencils were introduced to China. People borrowed old terms to name this newly introduced similar thing, and it was also called "pencil". The graphite in it is also named "black lead" because it looks like the black lead that the Chinese know. These are all examples of borrowing existing nouns to name new things.
