"Pluma" or "boligrafo" for "pen"?
In my Spanish book (I'm actually learning Spanish in Spain), it had "boligrafo" listed for "pen" but for Spanish/English translation websites, "pen" was translated as "pluma."
Is it just a preferential difference--do either work?
6 Answers
hmmmm, Jason, not in Spain. We say pluma when we refer to a fountain pen, a boli or boligrafo is a pen pen, jeje
Pluma atomica- back in the 50' when the Boligrafo was invented, it was call "Pluma Atomica". Now days fountain pens are not used that much,so (in my great and wise opinion) both pluma and Boligrafo is used to name the ball point pen. I think that if you ask some-one for a "pluma" they will give you a Boligrafo. I would not loan my fountain pen to anyone- if, I had one- they are expensive.
pluma atómica (Méx) ballpoint pen
pluma esferográfica (LAm) ballpoint pen Fuente: Reverso.net
Fue estrategia publicitaria: el lanzamiento del bolígrafo en América Latina coincidió con el fin de la II Guerra Mundial.
Lo que hicieron fue relacionar la pequeña bola de metal en la punta del bolígrafo con un átomo, eso es todo. Con el tiempo el nombre quedó en "pluma", como las de ganso que se usaban antes para escribir. fuente: Yahoo Mexico.com respuestas
The short answer...Yes to both. Boligrafo is like a ball point pen and pluma is your general pen but both are pens. Hope this helps. 
A fountain pen is essentially a pen that holds a reservoir of liquid based ink. The difference to the more commonly used ball point pens, the fountain pen is designed with a whole lot more complexity and exclusive craftsmanship in the nib – which is the metallic section wrought to a point, with a minuscule ball of extremely hard material attached to its tip. Therefore, a majority of all fountain pens are devised to be refillable. To this effect there exist a number of various mechanisms to refill the pen, such as piston lever and sac fillers. However, for the most part cheaper fountain pens employ the use of a fountain pen cartridge to store ink.
Read More: Fountain Pen Cartridge, http://www.fountainpencartridge.com/
"Pluma" can mean feather or pen. Because of this, "pluma" usually refers to a feather pen from way-back-when.
"Bolígrafo", also known as "bolí" usually refers to a ballpoint pen.
Nowadays, however, I don't think it really matters which one you use- it's just a matter of personal preference.
In latin america we say "boligrafo" tough the word "pluma" also is used but less...
