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What is the word that means how a pen or pencil feels or sounds on paper?

English Language & Usage Asked by Andrew Robulack on March 1, 2021

Is there a word that describes how the nib or tip of a pen or pencil feels or sounds on paper as one writes? It occurs to me that there might be a technical term.

One Answer

glossary-of-fountain-pen-terminology:

Feedback
The amount of 'bite' or resistance perceived during a writing experience.
This is a consequence of the relationship between the smoothness of a fountain pen nib and the smoothness of the paper being used.
Also commonly referred to as 'tooth'.


I posted a comment pointing out the way a baker, for example, might refer to the bite of a biscuit or bread roll (how it feels to the teeth). I find it interesting to see that same "inverted verb" sense applied to the feedback of a calligraphy nib, and even more intriguing to see the alternative term tooth there.


Syntactically speaking, this use of feedback seems unexceptional (a pen gives feedback to the writer just as an audience gives feedback to a live entertainer). And I'd say bite is an example of "nounification" of a flip verb (where the verb "subject" is not the experiencer, but rather whatever is causing the sensation being experienced). But I don't know if there's a technical term for the "unusual" use of tooth in this context.

Answered by FumbleFingers on March 1, 2021

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