Thursday 23 January, 2025

The Burning Question*: What is this called?

Let TheJournal.ie distract you from the ‘serious’ news with one of life’s REAL dilemmas. (*not really)

Nov 18th 2013, 3:00 PM 73,235 Views 245 Comments

WE KNOW HOW you feel. It’s Monday, you have the whole week looming ahead, and you have a lot on your plate.

So do like we do here in TheJournal.ie HQ and get stuck into a serious debate on one of life’s most pressing issues.

Possibly.

This week: Someone at TheJournal.ie HQ asked for a lend of ‘a topper’ recently? “A wha?” was the general response. What she meant was one of these fine contraptions:

(Image: Pencil Sharpeners/Shutterstock)

They are not called toppers, the rest of us exclaimed. “They are parers,” said some, while simultaneously others roared, “They’re sharpeners.”

What are they to you?

Poll Results:

Sharpeners (8257)

Parers (6939)

Toppers (pfft) (6303)

Something else (let us know in the comments) (2723)

Parers
Sharpeners
Toppers (pfft)
Something else (let us know in the comments)

Got a burning question that has divided your household/work colleagues/friends? Let us know in the comments section or email us at tips@thejournal.ie.

See previous entries in The Burning Question >

About the author:

About the author

Sinead O'Carroll

@SineadOCarroll

sinead@thejournal.ie

See more articles by Sinead O'Carroll

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The Burning Question*: What is this called?