Late post today. Weeks back after holiday are always rough, so I was dead on my feet after last week and not only crashed early last night, but slept in way too late this morning, oversleeping my normal post time. But now maybe I can knock out a post before bed.

And what a post I have for you! Check out this!

So...it's a fountain pen, you may be saying. Yes, indeed. But look near the bottom of the photo at the color of this particular pen.

Oh so many jokes come to mind. I wonder if it writes wet. Only if you use the right technique.

Ok, enough, I'll spare you more. Your mind could probably fill in more jokes than I could anyway. But really — what's going on here?

First off: this is from AliExpress. Go here to see the exact pen. The second color in the listing is the one you want. As anyone who has ever browsed that site knows, the English translations are often lacking. Case in point here. The Chinese translator behind this fountain pen color obviously wasn't aware of the slang meaning of "pussy" in English. I mean... if they were, I don't think blue would have been the color they choose.

So what was the intention? Cat? Nah. I can't think of many white and blue cats. I'm guessing they were thinking of pussy willow. That doesn't necessarily explain the blue color, but at least it fits the plant more than it would fit the lady privates usage.

Browsing Aliexpress is always an adventure. Most of the products are junk, of course. Some are improving. The Chinese fountain pens have actually gotten pretty good. They were trash a handful of years ago, but these days they are made with a much higher quality than you would expect (and the prices have increased to reflect that). Usually the English on the site is ok. More charming mistakes than fatal ones.

And then occasionally you get gems like this pen color.

David is an American teacher and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Bluesky. 【Support @dbooster with Hive SBI】