Robert Haar wrote:
On 10/21/07 3:01 PM, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:

Where in world did you come up with duck? One doesn't
tape ducks; one tapes ducts. Except it isn't very good for that...
So why the latter?

It might originally have been called duck tape. See the Etymology section of
the Wikipedia article.

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

The issue is confusing, because it wasn't used for ducts until long after it
was invented.

And what is worse is that the stuff commonly called "duct tape" - fabric
tape with a silvery but non-metallic coating is actually a very bad choice
for sealing ducts. There are varieties of tape that are made for sealing
ducts but the common "duct" tape is not one of them.

I am surprised that no one has mentioned gaffers tape.

Gaffer's tape is mentioned in the Wiki article, and it's mentioned in
the first line that duct tape ain't so good for ducts.

--
john mcwilliams