I’m from California, currently living in Japan. In California, the item I described in the title was called “lead pencil.”

However, in English textbooks in Japan, it says “mechanical pencil.”
No one said mechanical pencil where I lived in California, though I may have seen it in books.

I looked up on Wikipedia and it seems like mechanical pencil is the most common way to say it, but I think at least in conversational American English, lead pencil is more common.

What is the most common way for you to say it & what state are you from?
Thank you!

Edit:
Thank you for your comments!
Seems like 95% of you call it mechanical pencil, and 5% lead pencil!
Just saying, though, if you look at Wikipedia’s “mechanical pencil” page, it does say:

“Other names include: microtip pencil, … and lead pencil (Bangladeshi and American English).”

So I don’t think it’s my misunderstanding, but regional.

27 comments

  2. Seattle area born and raised. Mechanical pencil. Dont even know what else I could call it, it has no other names.

  4. Grew up calling it a mechanical pencil.

    A lead pencil would be the plastic or wood cylinder most likely painted yellow with an eraser held on by metal to the end.

    *grew up in Texas in the 80s & 90s

  6. I’ve always called that item a “mechanical pencil” here on the East Coast (I’m in Virginia).

    I’ve only ever heard “lead pencil” used as a way of distinguishing that type of pencil from colored pencils & other arts & crafts pencils (like wax pencils or water color pencils).

  9. Lifelong californian here. You are describing a mechanical pencil.

    If you ask me for a “lead pencil” I’ll hand you a yellow #2

  10. Definitely mechanical pencil.

    There are also “lead holders” which are sort of like a mechanical pencil except they don’t typically have ratcheting advancement mechanisms and their leads are much thicker, but they’re mostly used for art and technical drawing.

  14. I’m from the northeast and spent 10 years in Nevada where I knew several Californians well. I have never heard of using lead pencil to talk about a mechanical pencil before this thread.

    It’s always been mechanical pencil for me.

  15. I’ve always heard it referred to as a mechanical pencil. That’s the term that was used when I was in college, in normal day-to-day conversation, and through all of my career in engineering.

  16. I’ve only heard mechanical pencil. A “lead pencil” would be a traditional wood one.

    Edit to clarify: I would normally just call a wooden pencil a pencil, but I would say “lead pencil” to let someone know they need to use actual pencil and not colored pencil or ink or anything else. Like for a project that you needed to be able to erase.

  18. Never heard lead pencil in my life. I have only lived in California for 16 years, but I haven’t heard it here either.

  21. What you’re describing is a mechanical pencil to me. If someone said a lead pencil I’d think of the usual graphite pencils that you sharpen until they’re used up and move on to a new one.

  23. >In California, the item I described in the title was called “lead pencil.”

    I’ve lived in California my entire 44 years and I’ve only heard them referred to as “mechanical pencils.”

  26. I’ve always heard it called a mechanical pencil.

    “Lead pencil” makes me think of a regular wooden pencil.

  27. Mechanical pencil.

    No one I know calls it a ‘lead pencil.” A lead pencil is just called that because it’s made with graphite, and the two terms were confused in the beginning (lead and graphite).

    Are you sure this isn’t just something your own family said, and you’re thinking it’s more common than it actually is?

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