# Why is a tape player a "deck"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 26, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904 "2022-06-26T18:47:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/21 "2022-06-27T03:09:42Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > imagine walking over to the computer center one day and then walking back the next to see if your program ran or if you made a typo in card #162? And it was uphill both ways. Was the computer center in Yorkshire? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/22 "2022-06-27T03:12:01Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Hey kids. Whenever you talk about how easy we had it in boomer times, imagine walking over to the computer center one day and then walking back the next to see if your program ran or if you made a typo in card #162? A certain contingent of us got into the habit of working on our programs at night, in the lobby of the computer center. Usage was typically light (except towards the end of the quarter), and we could submit our **decks** , even coded to run at Idle Priority (to make our time allocations go farther) and get our printouts in just a few minutes. We could get many runs each night. Those were the days when one carefully “desk checked” every program as thoroughly as possible before submitting it. And with every run, one got a full printout of your entire program source code. Editing was done by examining and marking up that, followed by a trip to the nearby keypunch room. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-F031434-0006%2C_Aachen%2C_Technische_Hochschule%2C_Rechenzentrum.jpg/440px-Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-F031434-0006%2C_Aachen%2C_Technische_Hochschule%2C_Rechenzentrum.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-F031434-0006%2C_Aachen%2C_Technische_Hochschule%2C_Rechenzentrum.jpg/440px-Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-F031434-0006%2C_Aachen%2C_Technische_Hochschule%2C_Rechenzentrum.jpg) > **[Wikiwand - Computer programming in the punched card era](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Computer_programming_in_the_punched_card_era)** > > From the invention of computer programming languages up to the mid-1970s, most computer programmers created, edited and stored their programs line by line on punch cards. This was ultimately followed up, at least in one quarter, by an hour in my 07:00 a.m. Computer Science class, which I invariably slept through, and then flunked. ETA: And that’s why a tape player is called a “deck”. More ETA: @Exapno_Mapcase : What they called “Data Processing” was distinct from anything that you would call actual “Computer Science”. It more meant dull boring Inventory Management or Payroll applications written in COBOL or, better still, think of dealing with data using RPG. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/23 "2022-06-27T04:04:09Z")
I’m looking forward to 3d storage media . . . so we can all have personal holodecks. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/24 "2022-06-27T04:46:55Z")
A set of punch cards was always a deck. Heck what do you call it if you are playing a card game? The picture of the deck of punch cards above brings back memories. One learnt quickly to draw a diagonal line across the top of a deck. It made reassembling it very easy if you dropped it. As someone from the golden era of HiFi, a “record deck” was very much the term for a turntable. It even made into the name of one of the more well known high end turntables - the Linn Sondek. (Linn made a point of having a “k” in every product’s name. Even their foray into computers was called the Rekursiv.) ---
**Author:** ![QMatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@QMatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QMatic)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/25 "2022-06-27T06:10:22Z")
In the IBM mainframe world the term “deck” persisted long after physical punchcards. To run a program you had to describe what you wanted to run and which files it required etc. in JCL (Job Control Language) which was still formatted in lines of 72+8 characters which harked back to the 80 column punch cards. The JCL file you submitted would be called a JCL deck. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/26 "2022-06-27T07:02:25Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > an extension of flat surface from the original ship’s deck I suggest, purely as a matter of speculation, that there may be an intermediary sense here. In a theatrical space, the stage area — the wide flat area where the performers appear — is called the “deck.” This is indeed taken directly from nautical terminology, given that the flat wooden floor would be constructed similarly, and also because it was common to have sailors hanging around as their knowledge of ship’s rigging was useful and transferable knowledge backstage. So given that recording engineers would frequently be capturing live performances in such settings, it’s possible that “deck as flat working space” is taken more from the _stage_ sense of the word versus the maritime tradition. I have no cite, but it feels evolutionarily more plausible to me than the idea that anyone would look at a reel-to-reel recorder and think “ship.” ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/27 "2022-06-27T08:27:15Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Hey kids. Whenever you talk about how easy we had it in boomer times, imagine walking over to the computer center one day and then walking back the next to see if your program ran or if you made a typo in card #162? And it was uphill both ways. You wouldn’t last a day. I know this is off topic but I couldn’t let it pass: Before “boomer times” we had to book time days ahead on the computer. It might be at 3 am, but hard luck. You ran your program and got a wad of fanfold printouts that might take you days to analyse. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/28 "2022-06-27T09:34:44Z")
While the origin of the word “deck” might indeed be traced back to referring to a flat surface, it has another important connotation among audiophiles, namely that it denotes a _component_ of a hi-fi or stereo system rather than a complete system in itself. Thus a _tape recorder_ is a self-contained device, but a _tape deck_ is a component that produces line-level signals suitable for input into a separate amplifier and speakers. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/29 "2022-06-27T11:04:57Z")
Being bored, I looked _deck_ up in the OED. So, the origin is interesting. The first uses seem to be as a covering. Cited in 1466. A bed covering or horsecloth. Deck refers to the fabric item. Then in nautical terms the deck _covered_ part of a boat. Possibly simply a tarpaulin. It was later that it came to be sufficiently solid to be something that could be walked upon. Such uses noted in nautical terms in 1550. It then became both the cover of the hull and something to be walked upon. Prisoners were kept below decks. Multiple decks became part of the ship. First use as a tape recorder cited in 1949. It is the surface above which the tape moves, together with its attachments (motors, heads, head amplifiers) built as a single unit. As noted above, it only refers to the subsystem that necessarily handles the tape. The deck isn’t in and of itself a functioning tape recorder. One might also note uses such as “hit the deck”, “decking someone”, or hard landings “hitting the deck” even when it is terra firma that is being referenced. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/30 "2022-06-27T13:04:02Z")
It’s a verb, too: at least in Britain people probably know “Nos Galan” with the words “Deck the hall with boughs of holly / …” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/31 "2022-06-27T13:09:39Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > You don’t logic language. You approach it cautiously, assuming it might bite if disturbed. ESPECIALLY English! Where “th” can represent two different sounds (thy thigh), to name but one example. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/32 "2022-06-27T13:09:44Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > When I were a lad, the term “record deck” was a standard term synonymous with “turntable” for that part of a high end component system. Not any old cheap record player with an integrated amp & speaker. > > ETA: googling the two terms seems to support the fact that they are still used this way. Seems to be true, but I just never heard it. And I’m not exactly a young whippersnapper. In 1983 my then-wife worked at a high-end audio shop and I never heard anything but “turntable.” We had a Linn Sondek. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/33 "2022-06-27T13:19:19Z")
The really cool ones had tape that would self-destruct in 5 seconds. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4y9NtHlJvbY/maxresdefault.jpg "This tape will self-destruct in 5 seconds...") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y9NtHlJvbY) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/34 "2022-06-27T13:22:34Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > So, the origin is interesting. The first uses seem to be as a covering. Cited in 1466. A bed covering or horsecloth. Deck refers to the fabric item. Probably etymologically linked to “tick”, which is still used for a mattress cover (though the word is now somewhat archaic, because the item itself is archaic). ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/35 "2022-06-28T02:04:59Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > Deck refers to the fabric item. “Bedecked” is the fossil adjective describing something which has been decked, when “decked” was roughly synonymous with “draped”. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/36 "2022-06-28T03:37:59Z")
There’s also “decked out”, often used for someone wearing fancy attire. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/37 "2022-06-28T04:12:22Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > One might also note uses such as “hit the deck”, “decking someone”, or hard landings “hitting the deck” even when it is terra firma that is being referenced. And similarly, the paved area surrounding a swimming pool is called the deck. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/38 "2022-06-28T12:55:25Z")
And recall, even with cassettes, the earliest players tended to be horizontal with a pop-up lid, not vertical. Even with reel-to-reel, the horizontal configuration was as common (more common?) originally as the vertical. > [@DPRK](#): > > It’s a verb, too: at least in Britain people probably know “Nos Galan” with the words “Deck the hall with boughs of holly / …” Language changes over time… "Don we now our gay apparel…"♫ ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/39 "2022-06-28T14:59:12Z")
And many Jewish weddings still feature a _badeken_: > **[Badeken](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badeken)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Badeken, Bedeken, Badekenish, or Bedekung (Yiddish: באַדעקן badekn, lit. covering), is the ceremony where the groom veils the bride in a Jewish wedding. > Just prior to the actual wedding ceremony, which takes place under the chuppah, the bridegroom, accompanied by his parents, the Rabbi, and other dignitaries, and amidst joyous singing of his friends, covers the bride's face with a veil. At this point, it is traditional for the Rabbi to pronounce... ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/40 "2022-06-28T20:36:48Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > even with cassettes, the earliest players tended to be horizontal with a pop-up lid, not vertical. My late father’s 1974 TEAC A-360S cassette deck was like this. It was funny, too, because he had it mounted upright into the face panel of the component cabinet and from then on, he’d have to catch the casette after pushing the eject button. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904.md?page=3)