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cassette
Joined: 08 Aug 2006
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 Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:07 am Post subject: It's not a "Sharp" it's a PENCIL! |
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| ...just wanted to get that off my chest. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:37 am Post subject: |
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| I wonder if the first mechanical pencil was from Sharp? |
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HapKi
Joined: 10 Dec 2004
Location: TALL BUILDING-SEOUL
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:50 am Post subject: |
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Yes, it's not a pencil, it's a mechanical pencil.
And what do mechanical pencils do? They stay SHARP. Just like bond bonds. Koreans are brilliant! |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:52 am Post subject: |
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Lordy... the things you see on these forums... Was the first a Sharp? Don't know. But that is where the name comes from.
Kleenex, anyone? |
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pest2
Joined: 01 Jun 2005
Location: Vancouver, Canada
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 2:45 am Post subject: Re: It's not a "Sharp" it's a PENCIL! |
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| cassette wrote: |
| ...just wanted to get that off my chest. |
Factoid:
"In 1897, Park Min Su and his family immigrated from Pyeongchang to Sanfrancisco. 6 years later, he and his cousin Kim ji hoon went into business making permanent markers. He had designed a special tip on his first marker that was very sharp, so he wanted to call his company 'Sharp'. However, everyone including his agent, Mr Jeffrey Hartmann, heard the word "syeu ah pee" coming out of Park's mouth when he spoke of his new company's name. So when Mr. Hartmann was registering the company with the US patents office, he titled it "Sharpie". The name stuck and today Sharpie company is the world's largest producer of permanent board markers."
http://www.sharpie.com/sanford/consumer/sharpie/index.jhtml?_requestid=34634
Perhaps today Koreans, with all thier national pride, would rather call a pencil, which is roughly similar to a board marker, a sharpie than a pencil? |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 3:18 am Post subject: |
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No, it's the Sharp company. Sharp makes mechanical pencils. Koreans did with pencils what we di with Kleenex. Thus, Sharp now = sharp and Kleenex now = kleenex.
I'm fairly sure the vast majority of Koreans have never heard the Sharpie story. If they had, they would have told us. Repeatedly. Assuming the story isn't BS... |
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Ekuboko
Joined: 22 Dec 2004
Location: ex-Gyeonggi
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 4:16 am Post subject: |
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Mechanical pencils were 'invented' by a Japanese guy. He named them "sharp pencils." In Japan, they are called "shaapu" or "shaa-pen" for short.
Said Japanese guy's company later ended up being called Sharp, and turned to producing mostly electronics.
http://sharp-world.com/corporate/info/his/h_company/1915_1919/index.html
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The mechanical pencil was first invented in Britain in 1822 by Sampson Mordan and Gabriel Riddley. Earliest Mordan pencils are thus hallmarked SMGR. Sampson Mordan continued manufacturing pencils and a wide range of silver objects until the second world war when their factory was bombed.
Between 1820 and 1873, more than 160 patents were registered pertaining to a variety of improvements to mechanical pencils. The first spring-loaded mechanical pencil was patented in 1877 and a twist-feed mechanism was developed in 1895. The 0.9mm lead was introduced in 1938, and later it was followed by 0.7mm, 0.5mm and 0.3mm versions.
The mechanical pencil became successful in Japan with some improvements in 1915 by Tokuji Hayakawa, a metal worker who had just finished his apprenticeship. It was introduced as the Ever-Ready Sharp Pencil. Success was not immediate, since the metal shaft � essential for the pencil's long life � was unfamiliar to users. The Ever-Sharp began selling in huge numbers, however, after a company from Yokohama made a large order. Later Tokuji Hayakawa's company got its name from that pencil: Sharp. |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_pencil |
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supernick
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:32 am Post subject: |
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| It comes from Ever Ready Sharp Pencil Company, which was founded by a young Japanese man who invented the modern day mechanical pencil. The company has shortened its name to Sharp, that makes some of the best electronic items to be had, including those nifty little electronic dictionaries that Korean students are so fond of. |
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yingwenlaoshi
Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Location: ... location, location!
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:59 am Post subject: |
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| I can't use those. They break too easily. Maybe they have ones with thicker, stronger leads. |
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cassette
Joined: 08 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:18 pm Post subject: |
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| All valid and interesting pionts so far. However, my initial frustration came from saying to my class, "Pencils down" and having them respond, "Teacher, pencil no! Sharp!" |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:48 pm Post subject: |
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| cassette wrote: |
| All valid and interesting pionts so far. However, my initial frustration came from saying to my class, "Pencils down" and having them respond, "Teacher, pencil no! Sharp!" |
Its frustrating isn't it?
I hate it when Koreans always refer to my Nintendo DS as a PSP. I have both, and it just ticks me off. A Nintendo DS is nothing like a PSP.
The best part is when you are trying to correct them, they say "no!". no matter how frustrating it is, just keep at it. Some day one of those Korean kids you teach are gonna go to the US, and someone will say pencil and they will know what it is and remember all the times you said Pencil and they replied Sharp.
In their defense though, I've done the same thing. "Its not a gel band, its called a Band-Aid ."
It goes both ways. I can't figure out how to use their fancy toilets with remote controls, and Koreans don't know what a PDA is. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 3:04 pm Post subject: |
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| When I was a kid, the Sumerians called them Ever-Sharp pencils/mechanical pencils. This was just after cuneiform was invented. |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Better yet...those Korean to English dictionaries that use romanized Korean expressions instead of the English words that are of Japanese origin. It's not ramyon, it's ramen. It's not tubu, it's tofu. "Teacher, it's not the same!" Yeah, whatever...and a Daewoo is not a Ferrari, but they are both called cars. |
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yingwenlaoshi
Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Location: ... location, location!
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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| cassette wrote: |
| All valid and interesting pionts so far. However, my initial frustration came from saying to my class, "Pencils down" and having them respond, "Teacher, pencil no! Sharp!" |
I'm curious. Did you tell them that Sharp was wrong? What exactly did you say? |
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Demophobe
Joined: 17 May 2004
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 4:18 pm Post subject: |
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| yingwenlaoshi wrote: |
| cassette wrote: |
| All valid and interesting pionts so far. However, my initial frustration came from saying to my class, "Pencils down" and having them respond, "Teacher, pencil no! Sharp!" |
I'm curious. Did you tell them that Sharp was wrong? What exactly did you say? |
What could one say besides "Don't speak Korean in the classroom."?
I wonder if the OP gets worked up when Koreans say "Pok-em-Bap"? It is mixed fried rice, after all. |
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