First you had 'duct tape' which we Brits never had ; now the US is using 'Humvees'in Iraq. We haven't got those either.This is most unfair. What is a humvee and what is the derivation of the name?

PS: You do have Duct Tape.

Ta. Yes I know we have 'duct tape' but here it is a specialist material used only within the trades where they tape ducts. Something called 'gaffer tape' is similar but that is almost as rare . Most ironmongers would not know the first ; they might know the second.As it is sometimes called 'Duck tape' in the US we were soon even more confused over what it was used for; it sounded nasty !

No duct tape? But duct tape is the solution to all problems, great and small (dutc tape is like the force - it has a dark side, a light side, and it holds the world together).

Only problem with duct tape is, it doesn't hold up very well on ducts. LOL, methos. I saw that bumper sticker on a car about 6 weeks ago.

Duct tape is one of the only two hardware items that you need in a household. If it moves and it shouldn't, use duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD40.

Is it "duck tape" or "duct tape"?
You might be surprised...

Duck Tape

Interesting, T. in E. You'll all be relieved to know, I'm certain, that I've just seen some on sale here (at a price) ; it's £5.95 , $9.60, for a 50 metre reel; and the brand name is 'Duck Tape', with a picture of a yellow duck on the package.

I now realise that I have seen it before. I bought some in a hardware store a few blocks from the WTC in February 2001 when I was staying in the Hilton (the one then over the way from the WTC and which has just reopened after being damaged in the attack).What for ? I needed something to mark my new suitcase to distinguish it from every other one of the brand or colour. It seemed just the thing; I took it to be parcel tape.It's still there 2 years on, so it works.

The innocence of foreign visitors ! What amuses me now is that marking baggage is one of the 'suggested uses'provided in the descriptive text ! Whether the importer was as puzzled as I was, trying to think what the stuff could possibly be for, and made my guess when informing the rest of us, I can only speculate. It seems quite likely, somehow.