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What does “scotch” mean in Italian?

In Italy, “scotch” usually means clear sticky tape — the see-through roll you use to wrap a gift or fix a torn page — not Scotch whisky. It comes from the brand name Scotch Tape, made by the company 3M, which Italians turned into the everyday word for any transparent tape. It travels with the article “lo”: lo scotch. Ask a shop for “lo scotch” and you’ll get tape, not a drink.

Everyday uses: “Mi passi lo scotch?” (Can you pass me the tape?) and “Ho attaccato il poster con lo scotch” (I stuck the poster up with tape). In the clip the speaker holds up a roll and says “Questo è lo scotch. Lo scotch. Lo scotch è rotondo, è rotondo” — pointing out that the roll is round, “a forma di cerchio” (circle-shaped), part of a lesson on shapes. The word goes back to Scotch Tape, a 3M trademark from the 1930s; like “Post-it” (also named in this clip), the brand name slid into Italian as the plain word for the object. For the drink, Italians usually say “whisky” or spell it out as “Scotch whisky,” so context keeps the two apart.