Talk:rubber

Australian rubbers
Think someone was trying to get people in trouble saying rubber was Australian for an eraser. At least in Sydney a rubber is a condom. Corrected this "error"--Richardb 02:30, 21 Nov 2004 (UTC)


 * You're bonkers. No way is that fair dinkum, I'm gobsmacked that anyone could be such a drongo. The word "rubber" meaning condom is definitely American. The first time I heard it (and I live in Newcastle, fairly cosmopolitan) was from a friend who went on exchange to America and made the mistake of asking for a rubber, rubber being the word that absolutely everyone uses. Of course he was made to feel like a galah because in America a rubber is a condom - I'd never heard that before. If you use the word rubber in Australia to mean condom, nobody will know what you mean, and they'll immediately think you mean "eraser". Eraser is used, but it is fair less common. Perhaps Sydney has more American influence, but I think you're just coming the raw prawn. --Sumthingweird 21:27, 17 February 2006 (UTC)


 * This is a valid consideration. It's actually part of some sexual harassment training to call attention to this specific cultural variation, because harassment lawsuits are occasionally caused by this difference. Mythobeast (talk) 15:28, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Etymology of the sport sense
Is the sport sense of the same origin as the others? The Online Etymology Dictionary says 'Sense of "deciding match" in a game or contest is 1599, of unknown origin, and perhaps an entirely separate word.' The AHD lists it as being of separate origin also. -- Beobach972 15:23, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

From RFV
Sport sense. -- Beobach972 00:02, 25 April 2007 (UTC)


 * It's in the OED, and I just happened across some uses while b.g.c.-ing wubber: . (Of course, it's better to give correctly-spelled cites, but those give some idea of what phrases to look for.) —RuakhTALK 14:46, 26 April 2007 (UTC)


 * It is in the OED, but with the specific sense of a series of games involving or entailing a tie-breaker or a decisive game or match. That's the sense in which I've encountered it.  I recall the term being used in snooker -- the rubber is the tie-breaking game.  The word is also used as an attributive, as in "rubber game", "rubber match". -- WikiPedant 15:23, 26 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Shall we correct the definition, then? -- Beobach972 15:19, 28 April 2007 (UTC)


 * The AHD defines it as a 'series of games of which two out of three or three out of five must be won to terminate the play' or an 'odd game played to break a tie', so our current definition is too general. I've corrected it. -- Beobach972 15:25, 28 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Yes, I think your changes capture the sense very nicely. I tweaked your defns just a wee bit, because in N. America, at least, "match" is sometimes taken as implying a group of games. -- WikiPedant 16:00, 28 April 2007 (UTC)


 * struck Cynewulf 20:11, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

English Rubbers
I've removed the 'UK' from the 'condom' entry. I've lived in England all my life and I can't say I recall hearing condoms being called 'rubbers' in the UK; I've been to the US on multiple occasions and I only know the term from films and my travels there. It's entirely possible that some people who've watched too many american movies or are trying to sound cool might use the term, but that's a very, very small proportion, and doesn't make it natively or even commonly 'english'. I think it would be fair to say that english people are aware of the use of 'rubber' in this way, and phrases like 'rubber johnny' and 'rubber bishop' do exist, but those are intentionally comical terms, and not common usage. Calling condoms 'rubbers' is one of the notes you read in UK-American travel guides, like 'john hancock' and 'fanny', precisely because it's a difference between UK and US usage. -- 87.114.255.146 16:53, 3 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Rubber in this sense exists in the UK. Mglovesfun (talk) 17:15, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Sports rubbers
I think a rubber may be the individual match or the entire series; I've edited the definition to include both. I note that Jnestorius (talk) 21:32, 12 April 2015 (UTC)
 * oxforddictionaries "British and World English" doesn't have either sense
 * oxforddictionaries American has the entire-series definition, but its illustrations are for the individual-match sense:
 * A contest consisting of a series of successive matches (typically three or five) between the same sides or people in tennis, cricket, and other games.
 * They couldn't beat Jill Schofield and Viv Williamson but won five of the rubbers, top scorers for Poppleton being Kath Halliday and Hilary Spencer winning 22 games.
 * In the opening contest of the night Lismore City narrowly defeated RSL six rubbers to five.
 * Appleton Roebuck against Wheldrake in division three provided quality tennis worthy of a higher division, the first five rubbers being drawn.

Rubber check sense

 * Not covered by funds on account

This sounds like an adjective rather than a noun. Does it exist outside the term rubber check/rubber cheque? Keith the Koala (talk) 23:15, 9 January 2016 (UTC)

other adjective senses
Surely there must be attestations of the adjective in the figurative sense of "elastic, stretchy, indefinite": "Well, the character development is solid but her geography is a bit rubber" (as of a writer showing some inconsistency about the distances between places). 207.180.169.36 04:16, 14 March 2024 (UTC)