Biting pens

[holgalee]

Did people used to bite pens? I've seen descriptions of vintage pens with bite marks. Was biting pens the 'in thing' to do, to help improve the thought process? I got a sheaffer nononsense pen from a fellow FPNer with both shallow scratches and deep gouges, some of which are probably bite marks.

[paulrbarnard]

  holgalee said:

Did people used to bite pens? I've seen descriptions of vintage pens with bite marks. Was biting pens the 'in thing' to do, to help improve the thought process? I got a sheaffer nononsense pen from a fellow FPNer with both shallow scratches and deep gouges, some of which are probably bite marks.

 

A lot of people bite pens. It's not a fountain pen thing. I used to do it all the time when I was at school but have managed to stop myself since then. I think it is more noticeable on a FP as they tend to stick around longer.

[lapis]

Which end of the pen?

 

Mike

[Paddler]

Yes, people used to (and probably still do) bite pens and pencils. I don't regard it as an "in thing" to do; I think it is just an outlet for nervous energy. When you run out of fingernails, a pen or pencil is the next handy thing to chew (no pun intended).

 

Paddler

 

[JerryVK]

Sadly, people do bite pens. While in grade school, the girl next to me had bite marks all over her pencil from eraser to near the lead point. It is like biting the fingernails, I suppose. I nervous habit.

[dizzypen]

I bite my pens, though I have enough self control not to bite my FPs. I usually do it when I am concentrating/trying to think my way around a difficult question. I don't bite my nails or anything else really.

 

ETA: well I bite my husband, but that's another thing entirely...

Edited June 16, 2009 by dizzypen

[Fountainbass]

I don't bite my pens, but my old Parker Duofold & Vacumatic have minor bite marks on them. Part of their story, I guess!

[SimonJamesLucas]

People who bite fountain pens? Hanging's too good for 'em.

[AndyH]

  SimonJamesLucas said:

People who bite fountain pens? Hanging's too good for 'em.

 

Lethal injection of Baystate Blue with a Sailor XXXF nib?

[oceansportrait]

I don't bite my pens, but I do have a bad habit of tearing my eraser into tiny bits when I have too much time on my hands with nothing to do

[bitterwonder]

When I was in grade school in the 60's fountain pens were what one used and people chewed them and pencils in school. My parents and teachers really scolded. I never chewed my writing paraphanalia. Now though I will hold a brush in my mouth if I am using several on a mural.

[OnTheBayou]

When I was in school I used to chew on my Bics and pencils. I haven't even thought about that in a couple of decades though. Nowadays I try to keep everything but food and drink away from my mouth. There's no telling what's on stuff.

 

 

Edited for grammar.

Edited June 16, 2009 by Penguine

[grimakis]

I used to bite pencils all the time, but now I just rest them in between my lips or teeth. I rarely ever bite them. The BIC stics though, when I was younger, I used to chew the end until it was flat.... I just liked the taste of the plastic....

[FrankB]

From primary school through my undergrad years, I watched people gnaw away at writing instruments, from wood case pencils to FP's. I agree it appeared to be a nervous habit, and it was a destructive one. I chewed wood case pencils for a while in the fourth and fifth grades, but even at that age I realized it was a nasty habit and controlled myself. I never chewed a pen, though, but a lot of folks did.

[HenryLouis]

  AndyH said:

  SimonJamesLucas said:

People who bite fountain pens? Hanging's too good for 'em.

 

Lethal injection of Baystate Blue with a Sailor XXXF nib?

 

 

haha, let it be so!

[BeachBum]

  dizzypen said:

I bite my pens, though I have enough self control not to bite my FPs. I usually do it when I am concentrating/trying to think my way around a difficult question. I don't bite my nails or anything else really.

 

ETA: well I bite my husband, but that's another thing entirely...

Hellooooooooo Nurse! (Animaniacs reference for those who don't recognize it)

[krz]

People bite pens to make me run out and buy very fine sandpaper.

[kuragari389]

I used to chew on my pens and pencils throughout all my school years up until the end of high school. Must have been something about the plastic, because ever since I started buying pencils with metal clips and fountain pens, I haven't been doing so as much.

 

 

Now I just have an annoying addiction to gum >__<

[Pepin]

Yeah, it was quite common in the past. I remembered as a kid seeing schoolgirls do it all the time. If you read Freud, there is an explanation for it.

 

I put finger condoms (the kind watchmakers wear when repairing delicate watch movements) on the tail ends of some of my pens to protect them from drawer wear. Incidentally, they also taste great when I accidentally chew on them.

[Kimo]

Pen and pencil biting is in the same class of oral fixation as nail biting. Essentially it is a person who was not able to progress beyond the pleasure of oral stimulation when they were a baby/very young child. Often it starts up in early teen years and most people are able to move beyond it. Some continue into adulthood. I am kind of creeped out touching a pen or pencil that was used in this way knowing what the person was doing in their subconsicous.