A friend of mine asked me to pass the "press-stick". This prompted me to pass them the prit-stick because, naturally this is what I'd thought they had said.

But apparently they were really after the Blu-tack. Blu-tack is not called blu-tack in other countries and certainly where this friend was from, South Africa, it was called "Press-stick". I suggested this was a silly name for something that was so essentially "Blu-tack".

It's something that happens with all branded goods where a single name takes over from the collective name. I mean press-stick is exactly what you do. You also may vacuum but I Hoover. I wonder what JK Rowling, or her publisher, did when they tried to translate "spellotape" to the American market (they have Scotch tape not Sellotape).

So why is Blu-tack blue? It may not be a question that you've ever had to ask yourself before but it was a question that this friend asked me then.

The answer, it turns out, is because of sterilised pins which dressmakers used. The sterilisation process would change the pins from a bronzy colour to a bronzy-blue. And as Blu-tack is so safe it is edible (although I wouldn't suggest this unless it's absolutely necessary) they decided to name it after those pins you could hold in your mouth. Although I would really suggest against eating one of them!