YALP!

[gnomi]

(I think today's Narf question proves I shouldn't write polls when I'm sleepy-goofy.)

[Poll #1043911]

Comments

[squashed.livejournal.com]

I call it a scratch pad, but scrap paper. And I had to think about it ;)

I have used all the things I ticked off for where I'd write a message.

And I think that you'll find there's regional differences in Canada, too. I'd split it up into Martimes, Quebec, Ontario, AlSaMa aka Albert, Saskatchewan, Manitoba aka "the prairies" aka our "west", and BC.

Morning!

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Morning!

Ooh! I'll be sure to separate out regions of Canada in my next poll, though I'm running low on options -- there will have to be two area questions. :-)

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

Scrap paper is any random piece, of any size or shape. Scratch paper is of a size and shape suitable for taking notes, shopping lists, etc.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Interesting. So is scratch paper store-bought and scrap paper not necessarily?

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

Scratch paper may be in the form of scratch pads, but not necessarily. For instance, I used the back of an envelope for last nights grocery list.

Darn, I miss the perpetual grocery, etc., lists I had in my late Palm. The usual items were permanent, highlighted if I needed them that week, and I could add to them as necessary. I had one for each grocery, the drugstore, hardware store, wholesale club, & more. I recycle the paper ones, but I still feel guilty.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I have HS2 for my Palm, and I love it.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Scrap paper are small pieces of paper, frequently torn or cut down from a larger size. Scratch paper is a piece of paper on a pad for notes, or a single sheet which hasn't been cut down or torn.

Envelopes are not just for calculations, but also for writing major piece of Americana.

And since my brother once dated a member of Styx, yes, I would use a member of Styx to write a note on, given the necessity.

*Back* of a hand?

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

My most common writing surface, after notepads, is the palm of my left hand. I can't understand why someone would write on the back of a hand rather than the front - the palm is flatter, less freckled, and uninterrupted by hair.

Re: *Back* of a hand?

[quarkwiz.livejournal.com]

Same here. I've written on my palm many times, but never on the back of my hand.

Re: *Back* of a hand?

[gingicat]

I used to write notes in the palm of my hand, but tended to sweat it off.

Re: *Back* of a hand?

[42itous.livejournal.com]

It tickles to write on the palm!

Re: *Back* of a hand?

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

Really? I guess I'm used to it.

[dpolicar]

without thinking about it much: "scrap paper" is paper I've already used for something and am now re-using. "scratch paper" (or, more likely, "a scratch pad") is paper dedicated to the purpose of letting me scrawl stuff on it that I'll probably throw away later.

[perpet.livejournal.com]

I also write messages on my inner forearm, as I'm likely to notice them out of the corner of my eye.

[xochitl42.livejournal.com]

Interestingly enough, "scratch paper" seemed (to my memory) to be a Texas thing, and "scrap paper" a SC thing.

I spent the first 13 years of my life in Texas (south and west), with the remaining 5 in South Carolina (Charleston and North Augusta).

I once astounded the heck out of a co-worker at a magazine when she handed me a letter she was trying to copy edit, and I managed to identify within 50 miles the birthplace of the author, based entirely on word choice and grammar and spelling errors. Truth be told, i astounded the heck out of myself, too.

[xochitl42.livejournal.com]

Which is not to say I am dead and dies at 18. Duh. No, no, I mean schooling years. Eeesh.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you clarified, 'cause I didn't think zombies got LJ accounts. :-)

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

They do, but their posts tend to look like this....

Braynz....Braynz....Braynz....Gutz....

[eafm.livejournal.com]

Never phone messages, but I've written notes to myself, bits of dialogue and such, on my jeans. It helps to know which pens will wash out and which won't -- my comfiest denim shorts have had to be relegated to occasions I don't mind wearing bits of fanfic.

[jesshartley.livejournal.com]

Scrap paper is anything "left over" (usually the backs of printed sheets that are otherwise destined for recycling)
Scratch paper is what it becomes once you've actually re-purposed it and are going to be drawing/writing on it.

Scrap paper has potential, scratch paper has an imminent job.

I don't know why, but that's how it works in my head.

[samcdermott65.livejournal.com]

I have used napkins and envelopes, however, more often than not, I use receipts since there's usually quite a few of them in my purse.

scrap paper = loose bits of paper
scratch pad or note pad = pads of bound paper

shari

[gingicat]

I think I use both, but not sure about contexts. I think "scrap paper" is more when it's clearly otherwise trash, like a receipt or envelope. Scrap paper is also given to kids to color on. :)

In high school I was known to take notes on my jeans, much to Mom's annoyance.

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

i seem to be in line with other folks' thinking, that "scrap paper" is the random bits and pieces and "scratch paper" is what's been repurposed (be it loose bits, or a bound notepad) for taking notes and messages and such.

[tygerseye.livejournal.com]

In my world, "scratch" paper is paper that is kept by the phone or the computer specifically for writing notes on. It's usually a pad or a stack of paper, or something organized for that purpose. "Scrap" paper is anything you find at hand when you need to write something down. Envelopes, unopened bills, magazines, a hunk of paper from M's coloring book all qualify as "scrap" paper.

And man, I want whatever you were on this morning.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

And man, I want whatever you were on this morning.

::hands you my overtired brain::

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

Scratch paper, to me, is specifically for the preliminaries of something which is going to be fair-copied or otherwise produced in finished form later. It's the paper you use for first drafts, for the arithmetical calculations you need to finish your calculus exam, for the initial notes to the speech you're going to give. That kind of thing. A phone message or things like that, where the note form *is* the finished form and it needn't be improved, would go on scrap paper, which is a broader category and includes any paper that's in bits and oddments, whether or not it's going to be written on (wrapping paper oddments can be scrap paper too).

[jencallisto]

Yes, this is is exactly what I had been planning to say, only in rather more coherent form than I think I would have managed.

[cicirossi.livejournal.com]

you know, there are vast differences between DE and say, GA ;)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

True. But I had to use some sort of divisions, and these were the smallest-grain I could find that had some sort of coherency to them. When talking about regional speech, no set of divisions is flawless.

[tober.livejournal.com]

I am of the opinion that "scrap paper" is a bit of paper probably torn from another piece of paper and used to record something in haste such as a phone number - while "scratch paper" on the other hand is blank paper probably in pad form which is used for work such as computation. The additional paper used while taking an examination on which intermediate problem-solving work is done but which is not taken into account in the grading of the exam is scratch paper.

[zhaneel69.livejournal.com]

Scrap paper - Paper that was something else in a previous life. Back of printed out directions, backs of junk mail, etc.

Scratch paper - Paper designed to be used for the purpose of taking messages. Like in pads and funny colors/designs/shapes.

Zhaneel