"duck tape" vs. "duct tape"

<<None of this will mean a thing to non-Canadians, I suppose.>>

I've seen the Red Green Show. ;-)

I think I'm coming in a bit late on this... but I had always assumend "duck tape" came from the meaning of "duck" as the english name of a heavy cotton fabric from which the tape was originally made.

David

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duct_tape

Note in particular the Etymology section.

The tapes shown below look to be made of PVC and fabric. Is that the case?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1d/Duct_tape-transparent_and_silver.jpg/800px-Duct_tape-transparent_and_silver.jpgt

Interesting furrykef. I do remember - around 50 years ago - the adhesive tape about 2" (50mm) wide, used with and without a hot iron. A buff colour quite defintly made from a woven fabric (quite unlike the illustrations quoted above) - I also remember the fabric used on venitian blinds, but seem to recall that was quite a bit lighter in weight.

Interesting though... my grandfather used to use it for biding the wooden handles he put onto his carpentry and other tools... to improve grip and absorb perspiration.

I guess he would have been happy to call it anything, so long as it did the job :-)

<<Ah, duct tape - the handyman's secret weapon as Red Green would say.

I seem to remember one character on Royal Canadian Air Farce - was it "Mike from Kamloops"? - who always exaggerated the words as "duck-teh [pause] tape."

None of this will mean a thing to non-Canadians, I suppose.>>

Nope, I've seen the Red Green Show, too. ;)

But yeah, the first T in duct tape usually just gets combined with the second one in actual speech.