Jane in Vermont, USA who was wondering why we call it "Scotch" tape and
remembered it is because it was made by the Scotch Company, not an ethnic
reference
And Adele opens her bag of trivia:
The name Scotch Tape is an ethnic reference (for anyone who is baffled at this point, there is a long-time idea that the Scots, more than anyone else, pinch a penny till it bleeds). If there is a Scotch Company (I always thought the original Scotch tape was made by 3M) it was named after the tape, not the tape after the company.
The product is (or originally was) a long strip of cellophane to which a sticky substance was applied. When the company first started making it, the apparatus for applying the glue to the cellophane didn't always work perfectly. Sometimes you had cellophane sticky tape and sometimes you just had cellophane! One disgruntled customer wrote to the company, complaining about "...this Scotch tape of yours" - the reference is that in his opinion, the company was trying to save on glue by not actually putting any on the tape.
The company, however, took the reference and applied it to the notion that their sticky tape could be used to repair things, which meant you saved money, which was also referred by calling it "Scotch Tape". The name stuck (pardon the pun) for other reasons than the ethnic reference: it's short, it's catchy, and eventually in North America, "scotch tape" became a generic reference to any sticky cellophane tape.
Adele North Vancouver, BC (west coast of Canada)
- To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
