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The concept of tape goes back to at least when folk were speaking Old English and Latin and basically refers to a strip of material (generally cloth) used to measure something. Which would basically go back as long as we were cutting/sewing material to shape/size. So think proto-tents and clothing.
So assuming “giant fucking worm in someone’s intestines” was considered beyond “possessed by whichever god we don’t like this week”, it stands to reason they would be named in a similar vein.
Phew, that was easy. Cheers for saving the day!
The name “tapeworm” also predates the invention of tape. From what I can tell (Google search results) tape used to refer to any long, thin strip of material instead of just the sticky kind.
It’s still used that way. Magnetic tape (i.e. that stuff found in cassettes) isn’t sticky, either. Neither is measuring tape. In fact, the full name of the sticky stuff is “adhesive tape”, so stickiness is not a requirement for tape.
I grew up calling it “sticky tape.” Because we also had tape measures, various forms of magnetic tapes and plumbing tape.
And here I was pondering the tapeworm before I read your comment.
Demons.
