#1

contract, songs, million pound business ideas have all supposedly been written on the back of a cigarette packet. Have you ever written anything on the back of a fag packet? On the shiny side it is very difficult and to rip it open correctly to write on the other side there is very little space. Is it just a saying for a any old scrap of paper?

#2

I have never written anything on the back of a cigarette packet. Good luck with the thread though.

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#3

I smoke roll-ups and find it difficult to write anything on the plastic, especially now that it is grey!

#4

Yeah I have.

Also I still frequently write on the backs of envelopes. I shouldn’t do this because it is immensely wasteful.

#5

I suppose once upon a time a fag packet was just plain old card (rather than the branded, laminated, plastic wrapped stuff we enjoy today), which would have been much easier to write on.

#6

phone numbers, shopping list (abbreviated) and sometimes my pin for my bankcard if I was planning on getting stocious.

#7

more of a napkin man, myself

#8

I once tried writing on a leaf but it was too green

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#9

Use the back of my hand, mostly

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#10

At the request of one of my fellow students I once wrote out a proof of Pythagoras’ Theorem on the back of a fag packet. But he went on to become considerably more successful than me (ie was on Celebrity University Challenge).

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#11

Impossible now they’re all black, proof if any were needed the Tory party is ANTI BUSINESS

#13

and quite possibly that’s already written on the packet so you wouldn’t even need to write it.

#16

I thought it might be a pop culture saying

#20

People in my office use this phrase all the time when referring to reporting / plans they have just made up on the cuff and are probably rubbish. Thought it was in the business bullshit lexicon.

Most annoying example - “can you do a back of a fag packet analysis of this and pull together a top level deck of slides to summarise” - I suppose just saying “make something up” would destroy the illusion of competence.

#22

sometimes i like to pretend i’m a spy and hand people mysterious notes or phone numbers written on napkins or fag packets* but it’s been a while!!

*obviously i don’t actually do this but it would be fun

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