> Judah wrote:
>
> That's duct tape, dude, not duck. Negative geek points there :)
>

Mmm ... nope.  It's actually Duck Tape.  And I'm sticking with that.
BTW, "forte" as in, "etymology is my forte" is pronounced "fort" NOT
for-tay.

Common mistake on the Duck Tape though:

http://www.ducktapeclub.com/

The origin of the term "duct tape" is the subject of some disagreement.

One view[13][14] is that it was called "duck tape" by WWII soldiers
because it was made from cotton duck, from which their tents,
tarpaulins, ponchos and other equipment were made. The word "duck" was
commonly used for camping equipment fabrics until synthetics replaced
cotton. Some suggest that the waterproof quality of the tape
contributed to the name, by analogy to the water-shedding quality of a
duck's plumage. Under this view, soldiers returning home from the war
found uses for duck tape around the house, where tents were forgotten
and ductwork needed sealing, not ammunition cases. Other proponents of
this view point to older references to non-adhesive cotton duck tape
used in Venetian blinds, suggesting that the name was carried over to
the adhesive version. The Oxford English Dictionary says that perhaps
"duct tape" was originally "duck tape." This view is summarized most
notably in a New York Times article by etymologist William Safire in
March of 2003. Safire cites use of the term "cotton duck tape" in a
1945 advertisement for surplus government property.[15] The Oxford
English Dictionary gives a 1902 quotation for "100,000 yards of cotton
duck tape" being used to protect the cables of the Brooklyn
Bridge.[16] Thus a fabric duck tape was available to which an adhesive
could have been added.

The other view is that "duct tape" is the original term, since there
are many documented uses of that term which pre-date all documented
uses of the term "duck tape" for the adhesive-backed product, and that
there is no written evidence supporting the WWII story.[17] Some
proponents of this view accept the idea that there was an earlier
non-adhesive "duck tape", but claim that people have just confused the
similar pronunciation of two similar but unrelated products through
the process of elision, and that the rest of the "duck" etymology is
folklore or fabrication. This view was summarized most notably in a
Boston Globe article by etymologist Jan Freeman, also in March of
2003.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to 
date
Get the Free Trial
http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f

Archive: 
http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:288196
Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm
Unsubscribe: 
http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5

Reply via email to