SUBDUCTION

[Dr. Goodword]

• subduction •

Pronunciation: sêb-dêk-shên • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun, mass

Meaning: The application of duct tape to the bottom of something, usually to hold it up but also for decoration.

Notes: Today's ducky little word for the first day in April comes from a large family of duct tape derivations. Superduction refers to placing duct tape over something, as the duck to the left demonstrates, while circumduction refers to running duct tape all the way around something, as in, "Victoria's wardrobe emphasizes circumduction." Click here for an explanation.) Abduction, of course, means binding someone's hands with duct tape and carting them off. Seduction, of course, leads to little ductlings.

In Play: This word, more than anything else, proves that duct tape is duct tape and not duck tape, an issue that has plagued linguists for decades: "When Marvin threw the duct tape to Eldridge, the latter yelled to Benito, 'Duck! Tape!'" This is probably how the misnomer "duck tape" arose. (Click here for an alternative explication.) The normal use of today's goodly word, of course, goes something like this: "The light fixture was held to the ceiling by subduction."

Word History: Part of the duck tape-duct tape confusion comes from the history of this term. This word comes from Latin subductio(n-) "the sticky stuff under ducks", based on sub "an underwater vessel" + duct "duck, stickiness" + ion "tape". The root, duct- comes from Latin ductus, ducdu- "ducky, sticky". Anyone who has tasted the sauce on Peking Duck knows how sticky these birds can be when prepared for consumption. The suffix -ion comes from Latin ionere "to iron on tape" from ion "iron tape". When you put the three together, you get—well, you know. (Our gratitude to a newcomer, April Phule, of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, for today's controversial word. Click herebefore contacting us about any errors you might have caught in today's word.)

[Stargzer]

Just ducky, Doc!

[Dr. Goodword]

How many of you had to click the last link to be sure it was a joke? Be honest.

[Stargzer]

Oh, I knew it was a joke in the first sentence but clicked the link anyway. Subduction is what causes some earthquakes and volcanoes around the Ring of Fire as one tectonic plate slides below another.

Now, the real joke has to be the one about The Guardian converting to Twitter that Paul (Agoraphile) sent around!

Now, I can't stand Hannity on FoxNews, but his lead-in tonight had a good one with his former co-host, Alan Colmes, headlining news stories that included one about President Obama's likeness being carved into Mt. Rushmore. (Colmes was the liberal half of the old "Hannity and Colmes" show.

[skinem]

Knew it was a joke right off, and thank you, Doctor! Duct tape is the force that holds the universe together--it has a dark side and a light side.

The king of duct tape usage is Canada's Red Green (the Red Green Show) calling duct tape "the handyman's secret weapon" and "the universal adapter".

You have to take your hat off to anyone that can make a boat from duct tape, or a satellite dish from an old barbecue grill and duct tape, to mention only a couple of many.

Carpe ductum!

[Dr. Goodword]

Did you click the link to the picture of the girls wrapped in duct tape? People without enough to do...but we laugh! That's not so bad.

[skinem]

I can't figure out what picture you're talking about, Doc.

I don't see one on this page, nor the page owning up to it being a April Fools prank.

[Stargzer]

The links were in the original post but did not carry over to the AlphaAgora. Check out the Goodword Dictionary entry for subduction.

[Perry]

I knew it was in jest; made all the better by the excellent execution. (It didn't even need duct tape to hold it together...or did it?)

[Slava]

I caught on right away. Not only because I knew the word, but has there ever been a serious article or column outside of DIY that mentions duct tape, or duck tape?

[skinem]

I caught on right away. Not only because I knew the word, but has there ever been a serious article or column outside of DIY that mentions duct tape, or duck tape?

Don't know how serious it is, (or CAN be) but check here...

http://www.ducttapeguys.com/duckvsduct.html