{"id":6127,"date":"2021-03-31T22:10:56","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T05:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.penchalet.com\/blog\/?p=6127"},"modified":"2021-03-31T22:11:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T05:11:00","slug":"hold-on-to-your-pens-and-inks-2021-brings-a-new-name-complete-rebrand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.penchalet.com\/blog\/hold-on-to-your-pens-and-inks-2021-brings-a-new-name-complete-rebrand\/","title":{"rendered":"Hold On to Your Pens and Inks: 2021 Brings a New Name & Complete Rebrand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2020 was quite the year! We hope you’ve been holding on to all your favorite pens and inks. When 2021 hit we were ready to adopt one of our favorite sayings from The Addams Family’s<\/em> Gomez Addams, “This is new business, and we do not discuss new business until\u2026next quarter.” Sigh, but now “next quarter” is already here. In an effort to let the little things go, set aside our (probably misguided) philosophy borrowed from “The Addams Family,” and cut back on the drama, we’re addressing one of our biggest and longest standing issues: the company name. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pen Chalet: Is There a Correct Way to Pronounce That (Or Did Ya’ll Make That Up)? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since our quest to provide the coolest pen and ink fans with the best pens and inks at the best prices began, trying to pronounce the Pen Chalet name (correctly) has left many of you struggling with feelings of inadequacy and shame. Most start off confident and fearless with the common and well known “pen” of Pen Chalet. The 1st half of the company name is blameless; it enjoys close to 100% pronunciation accuracy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pen (\/pen\/) meaning an instrument for writing or drawing with ink, or to write or compose. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the pronunciation of the 2nd half of the company name, chalet, is more difficult to pronounce (and we hear a LOT of different pronunciations.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chalet (sha-ley, shal-ey) meaning any cottage, house, ski lodge, etc. built in the style of a type of farmhouse, low and with wide eaves, common in Alpine regions. Origin referenced a herdsman’s hut in the Swiss Alps. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Common Mispronunciations of Pen Chalet (phonetic spellings):<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"pens<\/a>
{featured products: Kaweco AL Sport Gold fountain pen, Pineider turquoise ink, and Field Notes Heavy Duty notebook}.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fans of pens and inks are often sticklers for accuracy, so it’s not surprising that incorrectly pronouncing the company’s name leaves many of you uneasy. And it happens a lot. Here are some of the variations of Pen Chalet we’ve heard recently: Pen Cholit, Pen Kalut, Pen Kolit, Pen Chalit, Pen Shallot (isn’t that an onion?), Pen Chalee, Pen Sell It, Pen Caillat (wait…now I want to listen to Colbie Caillat’s “Bubbly”), Pen Shelly…the list could go on, but we think that\u2019s enough. Don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just So You Know, Chalet IS an Actual Word ( It’s English, kind of\/mostly)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We’re not saying it’s your fault; we’re just saying we’re going to blame you. Just kidding, we don’t even blame you! A lot of English words are really difficult to pronounce (or easy to pronounce badly). It’s not surprising when you try to pin it down to the actual facts. For instance, if Chalet is an actual word, what language is it? And the answer is English; kind of mostly by way of parts of Switzerland and southeastern France. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All Those Borrowed Words Make Correct Pronunciation a…Bit…Well, Difficult<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Making fun of other people’s pronunciation may be an acceptable form of modern day entertainment, but doing so seems a bit risky considering English really has no strict pronunciation rules, and the spelling system operates on it’s own level of crazy. In fact, if it wasn’t more fun to blame you, we’d have a really easy time blaming it all on the English language. We could easily argue that the the universal struggle to pronounce simple little words like “chalet” is actually the English language’s own fault. Here’s a few of our hypothetical supporting arguments. (I mean, if we were going to let you off the hook and place the blame elsewhere). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun Games the English Language Plays: <\/h2>\n\n\n\n