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Factoid: Duck Tape
Jan. 17th, 2025 09:37 am When I was a kid, once of the most exciting times was receiving a copy of 3-2-1 Contact magazine in the mail.
In the before times, before the Internet, getting a magazine in the mail was essentially being connected to a hub of websites for just a little while, where all the content is static but at least it was new and interesting for the month.
There was a section of "factoids" where in this case the term meant "Brief, interesting facts". Today the term "factoid" more often means a fact that sounds plausible, but really isn't.
My brain would load up on these factoids and I would be a relentless "actually" guy with the audience being my parents, grandparents, and other relatives. There was always something they needed to be corrected about regarding quicksand, copperhead snakes, ancient Egyptians, or black widow spiders.
Duck Tape is the perfect illustration of these factoids. I'm positive there are thousands of others.
Kid-me would constantly uh, acktually that it wasn't "duck tape" it was "duct tape" because the tape was originally used to seal the seams and connections on ductwork. Never mind the fact that the ductwork the original writer of this factoid was thinking of was used in central heating systems, which only became popular after the 1950's.
Today adult-me can reverse-acktually back the other way, saying it's really "duck tape" named because its originally made out of "duck" a heavy duty type of canvas fabric. The same word used in describing these Carhartt Jackets. And in use at least since the Revolutionary War.
The Wikipedia entry for Duct Tape is a real treat.
And of course one must always consider Duck Tape brand Duct Tape.
In the before times, before the Internet, getting a magazine in the mail was essentially being connected to a hub of websites for just a little while, where all the content is static but at least it was new and interesting for the month.
There was a section of "factoids" where in this case the term meant "Brief, interesting facts". Today the term "factoid" more often means a fact that sounds plausible, but really isn't.
My brain would load up on these factoids and I would be a relentless "actually" guy with the audience being my parents, grandparents, and other relatives. There was always something they needed to be corrected about regarding quicksand, copperhead snakes, ancient Egyptians, or black widow spiders.
Duck Tape is the perfect illustration of these factoids. I'm positive there are thousands of others.
Kid-me would constantly uh, acktually that it wasn't "duck tape" it was "duct tape" because the tape was originally used to seal the seams and connections on ductwork. Never mind the fact that the ductwork the original writer of this factoid was thinking of was used in central heating systems, which only became popular after the 1950's.
Today adult-me can reverse-acktually back the other way, saying it's really "duck tape" named because its originally made out of "duck" a heavy duty type of canvas fabric. The same word used in describing these Carhartt Jackets. And in use at least since the Revolutionary War.
The Wikipedia entry for Duct Tape is a real treat.
And of course one must always consider Duck Tape brand Duct Tape.
