dave, you'd use ferule? aglet is the more common answer--tsuwm provided it early on.. (but since it wasn't really a question, but rather an invitation to submit words..)

i think of a ferule as the small piece of metal all along the top edge of a ruler--the thing that lets you run a pencil along the smooth sharp edge to get a straight line..

the OUD(oxford universal) says a ferule can mean beat with a stick, or the stick you are beating with!, (ie, a rod, a cane or other instrument of punishment, esp. a flat ruler)--(but doesn't single out the metal edge of ruler, so...)

all from a word for a giant fennel!

aglet is a diminutive from aiguille--which is a term for a pointy peak (mountain) particularlly one of the alps..

and aglet is a metal tag or point of lace, --hence any small tag, pendant or spangle, worn as an ornament on clothing.. (eventually, the decorated tips of lace stays on woman dresses..)

i suppose newer dictionaries might have more.. (the OUD is from 1955.)-- and goodness knows, if i had a penny for every time i was wrong, i'd be rich!


my other obsession