Word Smith: Pen Knife
My dad always had his fingernails trimmed and clean. He accomplished this task, despite the regular weeding and gardening he performed, and manual labor he exerted around the house. How did he do it? With his pen knife. As a result of my dad’s hygiene around his hand-care, the rest of the family received a small knife, when we were old enough to handle it. Not needing all of the gadgets on the Swiss Army Knives (cork screws, awls, blades), we opted for the smaller versions, which fit easily in our pockets. We continued that tradition until TSA, fearing plane hijacks, made all such implements illegal on airplanes in any pockets or non-checked luggage.
So, what is the origin of the expression “pen knife” anyway? I was not surprised to learn from David Sibley that the origin lies in the name of the knife to begin with.[1] The first pen knives were used to trim the quills plucked from the appropriate birds to make pens.
The instructions are straight forward but the creation of the perfect quill pen, does not mean that you have to kill the birds to get a pen. Since birds moult each year, there are plenty of quills that are shed naturally to find a good started feather.
The skill comes in cutting the feather just so … making it comfortable and easy for fitting in your writing hand. The best techniques slice the feather so it can suck up enough ink to write a word or two without having to redip the pen too many times into the ink well.
[1] Sibley, David Allen, What It’s Like To be A Bird, Alfred Knopf, New York, 2020, page xi introduction.
Henry E. Hooper 