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Mobile phones are called "Handys" in German. It's become such a satisfying and appropriate name for handheld computers, as distinct from traditional personal co
by krrrh 10y ago
Mobile phones are called "Handys" in German. It's become such a satisfying and appropriate name for handheld computers, as distinct from traditional personal computers.
In British English, they've always called cellphones "mobiles", which is also a nice short name for mobile computers.
- ceejayoz 9y agoIn American English, a handy means... something else. Mobile could work, though, and I've heard it used.
- DanitaBaires 9y agoIn Argentina is "el celular" as in "teléfono celular", or sometimes like in Spain "el móvil" which I like better because it means "the mobile", which in the long term could mean "the mobile computer".
- gambiting 9y agoIn Polish it's "komórka" which literally means "a cell"(like a cell in your body).
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- dTal 9y agoI think this usage is dying out in British English in much the same way as the word "auto" for car. People still speak of "mobile networks" and "auto dealerships", but they buy "phones" and "cars".
- gmac 9y agoMaybe this is a regional thing, but I'm British and I'm not sure I've ever heard a first language British English speaker use the word "auto" for a car. I'd have said that was purely an Americanism.
- eslaught 9y agoI'm a native speaker of American English (California dialect) and I have never heard another native speaker use "auto" for a car except in the context of "auto dealership".
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- dTal 9y agoI think you're right. I am dual nationality US/UK so sometimes I tend to cross my metaphors. Perhaps a better, British example would be the word "motor" instead of "auto". Used in words like "motorway", but I've never heard anyone actually use it to mean "car" outside of 80s cockney rap. (Which is apparently a thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/'Ullo_John!_Gotta_New_Motor%3F https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/'Ullo_John!_Gotta_New_Motor%3F)
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoI've heard "motor" used quite frequently for "car", but only ever hear it from my 70yo father now (UK English).
- mijoharas 9y agoI've most commonly heard motor as referring to an engine (UK english). I'd say a good example might be from french, with the formal and correct "voiture" not commonly being used, with the less formal "bagnole" being much more common.
- hultner 9y agoMotor is the only word used for engine in Swedish, I believe it's the same in other nordic languages.
- Boothroid 9y agoNah, still pretty widely used in certain circles - even to the extent that you can have a car sales site called motors and it be obvious: http://www.motors.co.uk/ http://www.motors.co.uk/
- stuaxo 9y agoMobile is short for mobile phone. I think most people are most likely to say "bring your phone", rather than "bring your mobile".
- viraptor 9y agoDepends on a country. Mobile is popular as well.
- _asummers 9y agoI feel like when I think of "mobile", I can only see a European person saying it. In the US it's usually "phone" or "cell phone".
- mijoharas 9y agoIn the U.K. I'd say it's mobile and phone pretty much interchangeably (possibly more phone than mobile nowadays as proposed by ancestor comment). If anyone says cell phone then you can immediately spot that they're american.
- neeleshs 9y agoYeah. Mobile and cell are both popular in India , in that order
- microcolonel 9y agoI think everyone here calls them cellphones. I call them mobiles and everyone gets it. Handy... wouldn't work in Canada, and I suspect not in the U.S. either.
- gerdesj 9y agoHandy (CA, US etc) == handjob (GB etc). Presumably handy is an abbreviation of handjob. I know blowjob is in common parlance at least on both sides of the pond. Perhaps it is just as well DE didn't pick blowey or blowie (those are in use over here in a similar way to handy on the left edge of the pond.) Handy could work in the UK except that it is extensively used already as an adjective eg: "that's a bit handy" or "you'll find this handy" etc. "That's a handy handy" would be a bit weird and as we already have mobile then there is no need for it. I suspect that "cell" will creep in eventually but not yet. Etymology can be quite interesting 8)
- ionised 9y ago> blowey or blowie Although blower is slang for a phone in the UK.
- microcolonel 9y agoYeah, we have all of that here, adjective and all.
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoA mildly interesting dovetail to all that is that a vernacular for phone used to be "the blower". I suspect through comparison of early phones with [ships] communication voice-pipes. Cf. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaking_tube#Domestic_use https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaking_tube#Domestic_use.
- gerdesj 9y agoGood catch - "blower". I still use that term myself and so do several others in my acquaintance. Even kids understand what I mean so it is definitely embedded in the national conscience here still or at least they get the idea by reference and context. Without any research whatsoever I'll also venture that "blowing" is what people used to do when they had to rush downstairs to answer the new fangled telephonic device and ended up out of breath. However, again without research, there is a good chance that the RN and co would have referred to the voice tubes on ships as "blowers" because that is the sort of word they would pick. I know a lot of modern matelots and that theory fits nicely.
- etrautmann 9y agoIn Chinese it translates to "hand machine," and computer translates to "electric brain"
- rollthehard6 9y agoLikewise in French, 'portable', similar to mobile.
- lloeki 9y agoCase in point, the term is also used for laptops.
- Agentlien 9y agoIn the Flemish part of Belgium they're still often referred to as GSMs. My wife and I, however, refer to ours as "gizmos" when talking to each other.
- FilterSweep 9y agoIn American slang, "Handys" are another term for an act with a partner. Besides referring to the actual product (iPhone or Android etc), I'm not aware if we have a term to replace phone
- ballenf 9y agoThat's not too well known in American slang, in my experience. I'd never heard that usage before now. Edit -- lots of people here recognize that usage, so I guess I'm just sheltered. Regardless, I hear 'handy' used in the US as an adjective meaning convenient quite often. But, if so, it's like the reverse of Americans talking about their "fanny pack" while in England.
- FilterSweep 9y ago> But, if so, it's like the reverse of Americans talking about their "fanny pack" while in England. There was a (funny) local news story in Australia when comedian Will Ferrell accidentally made an off-color "fanny" joke not knowing what the word meant abroad. Shows how slight differences in the same language can mean worlds of difference.
- amake 9y ago> Regardless, I hear 'handy' used in the US as an adjective meaning convenient quite often. Yes, as an adjective. As a noun (which is what is being discussed here) there's only one commonly known meaning, and it's that one.
- jvagner 9y agoI spent a lot of time (months each year, for 5 years) in Berlin and never heard this... FWIW
- krrrh 9y agoI'm pretty sure this will Baader-Meinhoff it into recognition for you. It's in the A1 level vocab, and I would see it on signs outside of Spätis and phone stores on a daily basis.