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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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”.
