Granby wrote:
I am hearing about spelling skills dropping in the world. DAH, with
texting, why wouldn't they?

One reason for some of the spelling oddities in English is that people
in the middle ages were only semi-literate (if they were literate at
all) so there was no standardized spelling until the late eighteenth,
early nineteenth century. Apparently the same problem has resurrected
in the 21st Century, for similar reasons.

"Duct tape" - so called because its original purpose was for sealing
joints in air-conditioning ducts (hence its silvery color) - proved so
useful for a variety of tasks that many people use it with no idea of
its origin. Naturally, given the sloppy enunciation of many regions in
the U.S., a lot of people pronounce the word without the final "t",
changing it into "duck tape" (even though that name makes no sense).
Apparently some manufacturers of the stuff have given up trying the keep
the correct label - the other day I saw rolls of the stuff at Wal-Mart
actually LABELED "Duck Tape" on the package!