Moleskin

Do not confuse moleskin with moleskine.

• Moleskin is a fabric (earlier, furs taken from moles, the common underground mammal). Artificial 'Moleskin' is woven from cotton. It has a fine pile which is sheared to give a tight fabric. It was formerly used to make protective garments for manual work: agricultural labourers and coal-miners used often to wear moleskins, specifically trousers, for their hard-wearing properties and their ability to shed dry dirt.
• Moleskine, with a final '-e', is the proprietary name of a brand of notebook manufactured in Italy. Hence the name should be pronounced 'moll-ess-KEEN-eh' (IPA: /mÉ’l esk ˈiːn e/) - but to pronounce it like this in the UK is to risk being thought affected. The common pronunciation here is like that of the fabric (and animal fur): 'MOAL-skin', IPA: /məʊl skɪn/.