Rover = bicycle

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Originally Posted by SoothingDave

Duct tape - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Interesting article. I've always known it as "duct tape" and assumed people who thought it was "duck" were simply mis-hearing things.

Turns out that it was originally "duck," but "duct" is the term in common use since the 1950s.

There is a brand "Duck" but they call it "Duck brand duct tape."

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So I was right and wrong. That seems fair!

Wellington, mackintosh, macadam. The last one is in use in my country. I think all road builders know and use the word, but few if any know where it came from.

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Originally Posted by BobK

Returning to the first post, I believe in Ireland, or in a part of Ireland, or in the imagination of Flann O'Brien, there was a brand of bicycle that was used generically. It's a while since I read The Third Policeman so I forget what the name was.

b

PS Incidentally, that book examines the possibility of the transformation that Rover feared (a man turning into a bicycle);-)

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I think it was in the imagination of Brian O'Nolan. (as was Flann O'Brien and Myles Na Gopaleen);-) I love "The Third Policeman".

Do people in the UK still use mackintosh for raincoat?

A few do. More than a few use 'mac'. This allows for one of my favourite jokes:

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'Have you got a light, Mac?'
'No, but I've got a dark green overcoat.'

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b

I would use mac, raincoat or anorak, but I don't think I've ever actually said mackintosh.

I think, possibly, the word 'makintosh' - on those rare occasions when it's used - usually refers specifically to a garment made of that particular rubberized fabric. Otherwise it's just one of your options.

BNC had hundreds of instances of Mackintosh, but I soon realized that they were almost all using it as a surname. When I narrowed it down by putting 'rain' in the context, I found only one instance. It was in a piece of fiction, and I didn't delve far enough to determine when it was set or written: 'Best take yer cap and mackintosh. Looks like rain.'

b

I think, possibly, the word 'mackintosh' - on those rare occasions when it's used - usually refers specifically to a garment made of that particular rubberized fabric. Otherwise it's just one of your options.

BNC had hundreds of instances of Mackintosh, but I soon realized that they were almost all using it as a surname. When I narrowed it down by putting 'rain' in the context, I found only one instance. It was in a piece of fiction, and I didn't delve far enough to determine when it was set or written: 'Best take yer cap and mackintosh. Looks like rain.'

b

PS Couldn't resist - I did check. It was from Goodnight Mister Tom, so written in second half of the 20th century but set in wartime Britain - probably 1941, as it dealt with an evacuee from London during the Blitz. The author was emphasizing the 'rusticness', and 'old-fashioned-ness' of the speaker.

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Originally Posted by emsr2d2

"Scotch" is very rarely used in the UK to describe the nationality of people. "Scottish" is the most common word.

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Despite my great age and (thin) veneer of civilisation, I remain tempted to punch anyone who describes me as "Scotch", as opposed to "Scottish" or "Scots" See you, Jimmie!!