November 28, 2005

Curious George: stationery fetishism It seems the English language is lacking a convenient label for someone who 'suffers' from a stationery fetish

So, I thought I'd enlist the help of the Monkeys to make one up! My best effort so far is 'fournituraphilia', from the French term 'fournitures de bureau', for 'office supplies' (note to actual French-speaking-type-persons: I don't know if this would be a common usage term / phrase?). I like it because it has a 'getting kinky in the stationery aisle' sound to it. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

posted by planetthoughtful 19 years ago
  • Oh, and here I am! What a wonderful stroll down MoFi memory lane!!! Er... don't mind me. Just celebrating MoFi's second birthday. Didn't mean to derail anything. Hmmm... I guess I should... er... Let me see... stationery fetish... hmmm... Oh, I've got it! Necrophilia! They don't get any more stationary than that!
  • Oh, I've got it! Necrophilia! They don't get any more stationary than that! Aha ahaha ahahaha. * renders NickDanger unconscious with a paperweight *
  • The French word is «papetrie», or for the more extended meaning you could say «papier et petits articles de bureau». I realise this is not totally helpful, but there you are.
  • So, 'papetriaphilia', maybe?
  • i had a stationary fetish. then i stopped.
  • I like to call it "fucking legal pads."
  • Waddams' Syndrome.
  • How about when the fetish is limited to certain kinds of stationary? Like, um, notebooks? *furtive looks* And gel pens?
  • How about when the fetish is limited to certain kinds of stationary? Like, um, notebooks? *furtive looks* And gel pens? We have meetings the first Monday of every month. No-one will judge you. Unless the notebooks and gel pens you like are crap, and then you're on your own.
  • By the way, this all part of a crazed plan to get the Monkeys immortalized in the English language. If'n we can come up with a suitably catchy term, we can infect the blogosphere with it, and then next stop, the OED! AHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Where are those damn pills?
  • MonkeyFilter: Necrophilia! They don't get any more stationary than that! Priceless! Can you imagine what sort of perverse actions occur with a staple remover and a long chain of paper clips?
  • My gel pens are the acid-free type. Handy.
  • My gel pens are the acid-free type. Handy. I've been seeing a lot of positive comments about the Pilot G2 gel pens. I've never used one, but I intend to head down to my local store this afternoon to see if they carry them.
  • I don't even know WTF a gel pen is. /runs to google
  • I don't even know WTF a gel pen is. Oh. You're one of them.
  • The Sanford Uni-Ball Vision is my favorite everyday pen. I prefer everyday pens to click and not have caps, but this one has been such a long time favorite that I make allowances. Plus, an office I worked at ordered these things by the gross and many would find their way home with me so I had a ready supply of them. At that office I eventually converted most of the editorial and design staff to my thinking and soon we all had fist fulls of pens in our personal colors. Mine was purple. I've used G2s and rather liked them, but I'm not sure I'd want to switch. Habit maybe. Plus unlike a cheap Bic, the capping and uncapping almost takes a moment of ritual that I've some to appreciate. The Varsity is another favorite, but it's not as smooth in use as a good gel/roller pen. A proper fountain pen is a joy, but also a very pricey luxury that everyone will want to use and hence destroy. Few people know that you don't jam down on them and hence these don't last long once lent. Sakura Pigma Microns is my favorite art pen. Basically a technical pen, but cheap and disposable. They are like my set of Koh-I-Noor Rapidographs, which while uber sexy are far too cumbersome with maintenance. And these have become a new favorite. The set of Pitt pens have been on the forefront of my marking use in the studio. Not so much for paper, the Sakuras rule there, but for canvas. I couldn't imagine writing with them, but for drawing they're absolute gems. I had a platonic crush on Blackfeet Indian Pencils growing up, but they were kind of hard to find then and their factory has closed in recent years. The replacement favorite is the Faber-Castell Grip. I don't think they write especially nicely but I love the design and aesthetics. But for function it's all about Derwent. Their Graphic line is super smooth, doesn't break easily... just lovely to work with. And their sketching line is wonderful on the softer, darker side. But perhaps the ultimate pencil for drawing is the Pure Woodless by General. It's just graphite. No wood. Not that great for fine lines, but that's not my bag. So easy to get wildly varied strokes fluidly going from thin tip marks to big, fat side strokes. For writing pencils I prefer mechanical. Like the Alvin Draft/Tec. Nice and pointy all the time and the Draft/Tec has a retractable tip so you can pocket it and not stab yourself. And Pentel's Hi-Polymer lead is nice and smooth though prone to breaking. It's an acceptable compromise though as it's much smoother than anything I've tried. Though, outside of school and math classes I don't use pencils much anyways except for art. For paper, the only stuff I get excited about is Rives BFK. It's intended for print making, but it's soft surface is a delight to draw on. It's hardly a "let's write a letter" paper, but for art it is my be all-end all.
  • Whoa! Interesting comment, nonbinary! I have some special needs from pens, courtesy of a childhood injury that left my index finger unable to bend, and which can make writing for any length of time quite painful (not to mention that I also have atrocious penmanship as a result). And smooth writing action is important, which is why I've become a fan of gel / rollerball pens. In general, I need finepoint pens (0.5mm), be they rollerball or otherwise. Sadly, I can't write legibly with any type of fountain pen, which is a curse for someone who adores pens as much I do. My mainstay pen is a Mont Blanc Starwalker Fineliner pen, in which I use their finepoint rollerball refills, as opposed to the fineliner refill. It's an expensive pen, and many people feel that Mont Blanc is very overrated, but I like its weight and balance, and I can read what I write with it, so I have no complaints. As mentioned above, I've just returned from the village with a couple of Pilot G2s (blue and red ink, respectively, since I use black refills in my MB), so I intend to give them a thorough workout. For everyday mechanical pencils, I like the Paper Mate Silhouette. Also has a retractable tip, pressure cushioning, and looks a little more pleasant to the eye than your average consumer mechanical pencil, without being too expensive.
  • *bookmarks nonbinary's comment*
  • Oh, I've got it! Necrophilia! They don't get any more stationary than that! now that you mention it I just heard a very creepy story about said philla...
  • Paperweight naturals, blackwing for sketching.
  • A different sort of stationary fetish. NSFW, once you get past the front page. And really pretty disturbing. Oddly enough, from the tour page: "Let's start the tour with FORNIPHILIA. The art of converting women into items of beautiful furniture." So we've come full circle, sorta.
  • maybe go back to the greek, papyros. we already have papyrology for the study of manuscripts, so papyrophilia is not to much of a stretch. alternatively, there's mujitis
  • darn, roryk beat me to it. The Latin is papyrus (and actually, my etymology book says "papuros" for the Greek, which makes sense when one knows that in the Greek alphabet, Y/u is upsilon, u). Papyrophilia... it rolls off the tongue. *holds perfectly-weighted French fountain pen to her chest* "Mmmm, pa-py-ro-philiaaaa"
  • Papyrophilia ... it rolls off the typewriter platen.
  • I call them paper or pen nerds. Mmmmm...nice paper....
  • Reamers.
  • *chokes
  • Thanks, GranMa. I appreciate it. Shall I get you a new drink?