[neonscribe]

"Biro" is British Isles (and elsewhere?, but not US) slang for a ballpoint pen, from László Bíró, the inventor of the modern ballpoint pen.

[mhh__]

Similar to Hoover <=> Vacuum Cleaner

[ncmncm]

And Crapper, supposedly. But that's disputed.

[Sniffnoy]

That's not disputed, that's just straight-up false. The earliest record of the word "crap" -- and that's counting just "crap", not the earlier words it's derived from -- is in 1846, when Thomas Crapper would have been just 9 years old.

[foldingmoney]

A case of nominative determinism?

[alias_neo]

Huh, thanks, as 30 something Brit, I didn't know why we called it a Biro, and I never thought to ask why!

[lostlogin]

It’s Biro in New Zealand too.

[tomcooks]

Italian too