On Thu, 28 Jul 1994, uclyjjd wrote:
> This will probably sound like a very stupid question to the American
> readers of this list ...
>
> What _is_ duct tape ? I suppose it's the stuff you tape air
> conditioning ducts together with. Aparantly it has a light side, a
Californians may tape AC ducts with it, but in Vermont and the rest of the
rust belt, the main use of duct tape is to cover holes in auto bodywork,
in order to pass inspection. After a few weeks, the cloth backing begins
to peel off, and flutters in the breeze, looking rather festive. The
locals often call it "duck" tape; I have been afraid to inquire why they
associate sticky tape and ducks.
> In the UK we have stuff called "gaffer" tape which is a couple of
> inches wide, usually silver, made of woven fabric with a very sticky
> adhesive. Much used by rock band roadies for fixing mic stands. Is
> this the same stuff ?
We have gaffer tape too. I would guess that gaffer tape is probably
designed to come off cleanly--I have often seen it used to tape cables to
polished wood stages, and the management would certainly complain if it
did not come off well. Duct tape is, for all practical purposes,
permanent. If you try to remove it, the cloth backing usually comes off,
leaving the adhesive behind. Nothing known to man will remove the
adhesive; one must just live with it. I take that back, there is a skin
lotion that will remove all adhesives and also repels mosquitoes, but
nothing else will work.
If GB does not have duct tape, I think importing it would be a real money
making proposition. We then could read in the "Reader's Restoration"
column of Popular Classics something like, "John repaired the rust holes
in his Prefect with duct tape, before giving the bodywork 6 coats of
smoothrite with a wide brush."
I gather that Australia does not have marshmallows, either. It is
difficult to see how they survive. Then again, I suppose a civilization
that eats wheetabix is unlikely to crave marshmallows.
Ray Gibbons
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