# Durder (sp?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 22, 2006, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742 "2006-05-22T13:35:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sciguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@sciguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciguy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/21 "2006-05-22T22:21:21Z")
I knew what this thread was going to be about before even opening it. My family calls them “durders” as well. I remember the term from when I was a kid, although I couldn’t tell you whether it was originated by my mom or dad, or whether they were passing down the term from their families. But we used durdur _only_ for the large (3 inch diameter, 2-3 foot long) cardboard tubes left over from wrapping paper (usually Christmas paper). Tubes from paper towels, toilet paper, etc were just…cardboard tubes. Oh, and let us not leave out the epic saga of the [Cardboard Tube](http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/01/15) [Samurai](http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/03/03). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/22 "2006-05-22T22:47:12Z")
Y’all can’t imagine how pleased I am to learn that this name is as well known and popular as it is. One of life’s little marvels, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/23 "2006-05-22T22:55:56Z")
Never. Ever. Once. Heard that before. Asked my mom: No. She asked dad: Nope. I asked the SO: No way. I’m ignorant of this. Now, I’m sure I’ll hear it sometime in the next week because that’s how it always goes for me. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/24 "2006-05-22T23:03:06Z")
[QUOTE=Hung Mung] Never. Ever. Once. Heard that before. Asked my mom: No. She asked dad: Nope. I asked the SO: No way. I’m ignorant of this. Now, I’m sure I’ll hear it sometime in the next week because that’s how it always goes for me. [/QUOTE] Just be sure to get them to spell it when you do hear it. I agree that you will hear it before the next big holiday (after Memorial Day), especially if there are any cardboard rolls around. There’s an idea: take one around with you and ask folks what it’s called. I bet you’ll get one “dur-dur” (sp?) before you get 10 other names. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/25 "2006-05-22T23:07:56Z")
A long, long time ago, I saw the term written somewhere, and it was spelled “der-der.” So that’s how I see it in my head. I’ve been calling them that since I first heard about it. I can’t remember for the life of me where it was, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/26 "2006-05-22T23:08:06Z")
[QUOTE=GingerOfTheNorth] Paul didn’t make it up. I’ve called it a durdur for years. I saw a guy on TV call it that and it stuck. [/QUOTE] I learned this term from :::shudder::: Barney. Fortunately it never stuck with me, we just call it “the cardboard tube”. Have never been tempted to put the one from the TP against my mouth, and the others just go directly into the guinea pig cage for chewing fun, at which point I don’t want _that_ one against my mouth either 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![beebee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47774/32.png) [@beebee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beebee)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/27 "2006-05-23T03:21:18Z")
it is a dur-dur. trust me. i know these things. ---
**Author:** ![stargazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@stargazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stargazer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/28 "2006-05-23T15:49:22Z")
I remember my mom telling me that it was called a derter (or however the heck it’s spelled), and why, but it was like she was telling me a joke she had heard. We did start calling it a derter after that, but I don’t think we thought that that was the _real_ name – it was mostly a joke, but it was convenient enough that we did use the word. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/29 "2006-05-23T16:11:36Z")
What gets me is why the syllables “der der” or “dur dur” or permutations thereof and the act of imitating a little bugle or horn are so readily associated with those tubes. I can easily see wanting to make use of the amplifying effect of humming or singing or “noodling” through one, but to use the “dur der duh” syllables seems peculiar. Especially when those very syllables get to be the name for the tube itself. Something weird’s going on here. When I posted the OP I had no idea that these things were as widely known as it turns out they are. (I know I already said that, but it’s about as weird as having my dream from last night be the same as everybody else’s.) Can anybody else come up with a weird name for something that you suspect me be unknown to many others? Like maybe your private name for the skin between your thumb and index finger, or the sound a squirrel makes when it’s being stalked by a cat. Something… ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/30 "2011-05-25T19:10:24Z")
\*\*\*\* BUMPED from 5 years ago to see if there are new ideas on the matter \*\*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/31 "2011-05-25T19:24:08Z")
n/m. I don’t like playing with zombies. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/32 "2011-05-25T20:21:25Z")
Missed this zombie when it was fresh. I’ve never heard “durder”, regardless of how it’s spelled. To me they’re “toilet paper tubes” or “toilet paper cores” or “toilet paper rolls”. I knew a guy who called them “cobs”, and saved them to use to hold coiled electrical cords. Me, I wrap the coiled cord with a few turns and stick the plug through the loop. Nothing to lose that way. I save the “cobs” for science demonstrations. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/33 "2011-05-25T21:16:37Z")
I had some friends in FL who would get a whole group together to play these things, and call themselves the **Nitty Gritty Durdur Band**. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/34 "2011-05-25T21:19:54Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I had some friends in FL who would get a whole group together to play these things, and call themselves the **Nitty Gritty Durdur Band**. > > 😃 Beautiful! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/35 "2011-05-25T21:32:58Z")
I tried a Yahoo! search and one of the first hits was this thread! Worth noting is [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=derder](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=derder) ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/36 "2011-05-27T02:16:08Z")
Shows to go you ya learn something new every day. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/37 "2011-05-27T08:13:03Z")
I call the toilet paper tube the Emergency Last Wipe. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/38 "2011-05-27T12:48:26Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > I call the toilet paper tube the Emergency Last Wipe. Not to quibble, but wouldn’t that be your shirt? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/39 "2011-05-27T13:03:48Z")
My shirt? Ewww that’s gross! ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742/40 "2011-05-27T13:36:24Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > I’ve heard it called a dur-dur, too. Seems to me I read it in a book called The Child’s Garden of Grass. It described the sound you make. It also told how to make a pipe out of one! 😉 > [@Zeldar](#): > > What sort of pipe? Not the smoking kind, right? I heard about it from the comedy album of the same name–very funny in parts if you like that kind of thing. [I imagine] You would use it as a “carburetor”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durder-sp/357742.md?page=3)