Teacher Discussion Forums

What do you call clear, adhesive tape?

Where I come from, people say 'Sellotape', as that is the brand that everyone uses. Here in France, people say 'Scotch'. However, I can imagine, in some places, asking for Scotch could lead to confusion (or perhaps inebriation).

So, sticky tape? Sellotape? Scotch?

I've heard of Scotch tape, but haven't heard it said for years. The main confusion would be if a French student in an English-speaking country assumes the same word is used. Then again, you can say that for any "false friend".

I say Sellotape or sticky tape for the adhesive stuff, Scotch for the hard stuff.

I never heard of sellotape. I guess we use Scotch tape here. I have, however, heard cellophane tape as a generic.

Informal though it sounds, "sticky tape" seems to be the generic term in the UK. Selotape and Scotch tape are both understood - selotape seems more common either way, they are both propriatory names.

Can't say I've ever heard it called cellophane tape.

Hmm I just looked at a store brand tape, and they call it "invisible tape" and "transparent tape" (two versions--the one you can write on and the one you can't.) I googled "cellophane tape" and perhaps it is the slightly larger variety I was thinking of. Here's a picture: http://www.packagemuseum.com/exhibits/s ... rand01.htm
and here's how you can use it:
http://www.missabigail.com/selection/selection123.html

Good morning all!

What is it? tape.

What kind of tape? Scotch.

What's it called then? Scotch tape.

I called it Scotch tape for the first 30 years of my life, living in the USA. Didn't know that others called it "sticky" or "cello" until I came in contact with European English speakers. Expanded horizons. It's certainly a habit of USA citizens to call something by its most popular brand name, thus Kleenex instead of "tissue", though in the case of Scotch tape, I'd never just call it Scotch.

peace,
revel.

"Cello tape" would be used for fixing musical instruments

In the UK it's Sellotape (a brand name) or sticky tape. The term "Scotch tape" must have leapfrogged the UK and gone straight to France.

I agree with Lori and lol. I call it scotch tape, even if it's generic.

But. . .
Can I have some scotch?
Can I have some scotch tape?
. . . not the same.

Let's not forget "sticky backed plastic". Nobody except the presenters of "Blue Peter" ever called Sellotape this. The BBC couldn't bring itself to endorse a particular brand-name even if half the children in Britain didn't know what it was talking about at first. We soon cottoned on though and waited every week for the presenter to say "We now take a roll of Se.... um sticky backed plastic and..."

Presumably the first or the biggest brand on a market gets to be the generic term.

It's odd that all course books use "vacuum-clean" or very daringly "vac'" as a verb when I imagine that a great many BrE people in fact use "hoover" irrespective of the brand of vacuum cleaner used. I suppose these course books are in the same position as the BBC.

See

http://genericized_trademark.networklive.org/

I had no idea that some of these were or had ever been trademarks.

Juan wrote:

Let's not forget "sticky backed plastic". Nobody except the presenters of "Blue Peter" ever called Sellotape this. The BBC couldn't bring itself to endorse a particular brand-name even if half the children in Britain didn't know what it was talking about at first. We soon cottoned on though and waited every week for the presenter to say "We now take a roll of Se.... um sticky backed plastic and..."

At the risk of sounding as pedantic as Peter Purves and not a bit like John Noakes, "Sticky-backed plastic" never referred to "sticky tape". Rather it referred to a product marketed under the tradename "Fablon". At least I think that that was the only company that made the stuff in the 1970's. If I recall correctly it was a plastic sheet with grease proof paper that could be pealed off to expose a sticky surface; the plastic usually had an immitation wood pattern. This would be stuck on painted wooden furniture to give it the look of wood.[sic] Sticky tape was always referred to as sticky tape. Often double-sided sticky tape was required which was quite difficult to get in those days.

I can't quite remember how they referred to smarties tubes, I think it was something like, "Take a small cardboard tube, this one contained chocolate sweets." I'm a bit hazy on this one, however, can anyone remember?

Thing is everyone knew what they were talking about and by using euphemisms they only ended up drawing the young viewers attention to the product. There is a conspirisory theory that this was deliberate product placement.

I also found this:
http://www.answers.com/topic/blue-peter

Apparantly they managed to explain how smarties are made without ever mentioning them by name.

Thanks for the link! Now I know what smarties are (and the smarty tube)

Yes, it makes a lot more sense that sticky backed plastic was Fablon and sticky tape Sellotape.

More seriously, the use of Scotch for Scotch Tape is a very Spanish trait, though not in this particular case. Perhaps because they are used to adjective after noun most of the time, they tend to abbreviate to the first of the two English words, or to the first half of a compound noun : Los Rolling are The Stones , Un super is a supermarket .

They use it in Mongola as well - Scotch tape that is - and you scotch posters and worksheets instead of laminating them.

Andrew wrote:
""Sticky-backed plastic" never referred to "sticky tape". Rather it referred to a product marketed under the tradename "Fablon". At least I think that that was the only company that made the stuff in the 1970's. If I recall correctly it was a plastic sheet with grease proof paper that could be pealed off to expose a sticky surface; the plastic usually had an immitation wood pattern. This would be stuck on painted wooden furniture to give it the look of wood.[sic]"

In the US, this is called "Contac Paper" which was a brand in the 70's, but now I can only find it listed as "contact paper" - I think because people called it that until the company (or a rival) went with that as a brand name - but I distinctly remember my mom using Contac brand, no 2nd T, on EVERYTHING, cabinets, game boards, etc. It came in many floral, frosted clear and other patterns/colors besides wood-tone.

I had no idea that sticky backed plastic was called contact paper in the US. I've just looked for "contac paper" on the net, it seems that lots of people refer to it (sometimes as "ConTac paper") but I can't find the manufacturer's website. It seems it is also called "laminate paper" in the US.

Fablon still exists and is made by HA Interiors

On their website they describe it thus,

Fablon is THE sticky back plastic - well known and the number one choice for generations!

http://www.fablon.co.uk/index.html
Being established in 1947, I suppose you can just about get away with the term "generations". The use of "THE" in capitals does seem to tie in with what I was saying that when Blue Peter started using it in its "makes" section that Fablon was the only sticky backed plastic available in the UK.