Talk:1139: Rubber and Glue

I am not a native speaker, but after some research, I found that rubber/glue refers to the rhyme "I am rubber, you are glue, whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you." If that's true, the current explanation that the topos is meant "to imply that insults of another person are an indication of their own insecurity and weakness" is just plain wrong. BKA (talk) 15:51, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

• It's really not wrong, it's just a clarification. Jimmy C (talk) 19:43, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

"Which bounces off me and sticks to you" is not meant in the literal sense. The sticks to you portion typically means that the recipient of the insult is implying that the sender is calling out other people by names that apply to themselves. Davidy²²(talk) 00:22, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

The in-joke here is presumably that CRC stands (or stood?) for the Chemical Rubber Company, and the handbook - found in many a physics and chemistry lab - is often referred to as the "Rubber Bible". 131.251.254.81 16:07, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

Of note is probably that the book young black hat is reading is known as the "Rubber Bible". From wikipedia: The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics is in its 93rd edition. It is sometimes nicknamed the 'Rubber Bible' or the 'Rubber Book', as CRC originally stood for "Chemical Rubber Company". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRC_Handbook_of_Chemistry_and_Physics

As an aside, this is the first time Black Hat has ever been referred to by a name of any kind. Should we consider calling him "Hatman" now? --Jimmy C (talk) 19:43, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

The transcript calls him Black Hat. Hatboy is only what the bullies were calling him in an effort to make fun of him. Erenan (talk) 20:22, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

Is it just me or does this appear to be a flashback to Black Hat's youth? --Jeff (talk) 23:03, 26 November 2012 (UTC)