Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
You are not logged in.
Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to
The forum administrator reserves the right to request users to plausibly demonstrate that they are real people with an interest in the topic of eggcorns. Otherwise they may be removed with no further justification. Likewise, accounts that have not been used for posting may be removed.
Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
I grew up calling this Duct Tape and now I hear Duck Tape, which is a brand name. Wikipedia sats ‘duck’ was first, but somehow I doubt that.
Offline
My understanding is that the silver colored, cloth adhesive tape was initially used to seal heater and AC ducts ( typically in forced-air central heating systems) which are air conDUCTors. It was handy for other uses, and soon was ubiquitous as a household item. I’m not sure if one can use it to tape a duck (but why not?)
Eggcorn’s rule#1 (I just made this up) states that: In a commonly used phrase the lesser-known word will always be replaced (eggcorned?) by a more familiar word with a similar sound. Once the tape was widely used for just about anything, the the meaning of “duct” was no longer relevant, as 99% of its’ uses were other than to seal ducts; so the name morphed to “duck” Note that in speech the two phrases sound the same when followed by the “t” of “tape”. It’s just that more users know what a duck is than a duct.
But there’s more! The tape (product) itself has changed too. The “duck tape” you buy at the grocery store is useless for sealing heating ducts! I know because I’ve tried it. The adhesive will not stand up to the high temperatures: the tape falls off in no time. Not so ducky. One has to go the the HVAC supply store and get “real” (and higher quality, and more expensive) duct tape. The real thing is so much better that I no longer buy the common “duck tape”. Again, once the ability to seal a duct was no longer required, the original product was replaced by an inferior look-alike. Do I glimpse an “invisible hand”, or is this just market “farces”?
Summary: there may be two valid terms: High quality duct tape, and lesser quality “duck tape”; the latter is the eggcorn. Dave Pevear, Houston
Offline
This one’s been discussed a number of times on the forum, and it remains a mystery. The best discussion I’ve ever seen is by lexicographer Michael Quinions over at his World Wide Words site: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-duc4.htm
In brief, the stuff appears to have been invented in 1942, but astonishingly no one seems to be sure what it was called before 1965, when an ad for “duct tape” is recorded. The developers of the material—Johnson and Johnson—claim that soldiers called it “duck tape” during WWII. And there are reasons why this is possible. The problem is that no one can find an actual record of this usage, and Quinions is skeptical of Johnson and Johnson’s story—he thinks a folk etymology may have been enshrined as company history. He considers “duct tape” the likely original form, but admits he can’t be sure.
So there you have it—the company that invented it says the original name really was “duck tape,” but people who worry about this stuff professionally aren’t convinced.
Offline