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Completely off topic, but when did people start calling earphones “headphones”? Headphones are the cans that cup your ears and strap around or over the head. H

Completely off topic, but when did people start calling earphones “headphones”? Headphones are the cans that cup your ears and strap around or over the head. Hence their name. Whereas earphones go inside your ear.

iAMkenough 1y ago
In my corner of the world, we call them "earbuds" as a subset of headphones. Earphones sounds antiquated. I could picture my father saying, "Let me connect my earphones to my gramophone so I don't disturb your grandmother."
- hnlmorg 1y ago
  Hahaha. To be fair, I do have a record table and my speakers are of the non-smart variety with copper wires connecting them to Cambridge Audio amplifiers. So you could easily be talking about me too.
slg 1y ago
I'm not sure if this is a "when did people start" situation. I have never heard a layman use "earphones" in casual conversation.
- hnlmorg 1y ago
  People definitely used to. Or at least in the UK they did.
  - wk_end 1y ago
    Yeah, might be a UK thing. In Canada/the US I've only ever heard "headphones" and "earbuds" (a specific kind of headphone).
    - hnlmorg 1y ago
      That would explain my surprise then. :)
  - slg 1y ago
    Another example of us being separated by a common language. I don't think this has ever been common in the US.
    - simmons 1y ago
      I don't think it was ever common, since earphones weren't that popular until people started calling them "earbuds", but the term was historically used in at least some circles in the U.S. The 1988 Radio Shack catalog [1] seems to mention "earphone" 57 times, including two mono earphone products. [1] https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Radio-Shack/Radio-Shack-1988.pdf https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Radio-Sha...
      - slg 1y ago
        That’s interesting, although that seems to be a different usage than OP mentioned. It seems to be used interchangeably with headphones as it’s also being used to describe cables and jacks.
0xffff2 1y ago
I'm reasonably certain that I am about as old if not slightly older than the invention of in-ear headphones. I'm also reasonably certain that I have always used "headphones" to refer to any small portable speaker designed to inject sound directly into the ears. I'm absolutely certain I have never used the term "earphones", although "ear buds" was/is a common synonym for in-ear headphones.
- hnlmorg 1y ago
  I’m probably around 2 decades older than the invention of earphones and people definitely did used to call them that here in the UK.
  - conductr 1y ago
    Then the US English is winning out because we never said earphones over here. I’m much older so have a clear memory of when they hit the market. We said earbud for a while but that was a momentary distinction and it seems we’ve mostly reverted to our generic term of headphones (which lacks any distinction on form factor ) so we use it for pretty much any and all cases. I actually think the AirPods naming helped this as it’s kind of a clunky product name that’s nearly a misnomer if you consider iPod is still a part of our vernacular. I don’t hear people saying “where are my AirPods?” Instead it’s “where are my headphones?” Had it been called AirBuds then maybe it would have stuck since ear buds was a thing. As I think back, I feel like earbud is distinctly tied to the corded iPod accessory. As that died out, so has the term.
  - userbinator 1y ago
    You are... 150 years old? https://patents.google.com/patent/US454138A/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US454138A/en This nipple is adapted for insertion into the ear, and is ordinarily covered with a rubber cover to lessen the friction against the orifice of the ear.
beala 1y ago
I use them interchangeably. Webster appears to back me up here. However, I only say earbud when referring to the type that's inserted into the ear.
deleted 1y ago
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efficax 1y ago
i've never heard anyone say "earphones"

iAMkenough 1y ago

In my corner of the world, we call them "earbuds" as a subset of headphones. Earphones sounds antiquated. I could picture my father saying, "Let me connect my earphones to my gramophone so I don't disturb your grandmother."

hnlmorg 1y ago
Hahaha. To be fair, I do have a record table and my speakers are of the non-smart variety with copper wires connecting them to Cambridge Audio amplifiers. So you could easily be talking about me too.

slg 1y ago

I'm not sure if this is a "when did people start" situation. I have never heard a layman use "earphones" in casual conversation.

hnlmorg 1y ago
People definitely used to. Or at least in the UK they did.
- wk_end 1y ago
  Yeah, might be a UK thing. In Canada/the US I've only ever heard "headphones" and "earbuds" (a specific kind of headphone).
  - hnlmorg 1y ago
    That would explain my surprise then. :)
- slg 1y ago
  Another example of us being separated by a common language. I don't think this has ever been common in the US.
  - simmons 1y ago
    I don't think it was ever common, since earphones weren't that popular until people started calling them "earbuds", but the term was historically used in at least some circles in the U.S. The 1988 Radio Shack catalog [1] seems to mention "earphone" 57 times, including two mono earphone products. [1] https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Radio-Shack/Radio-Shack-1988.pdf https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Radio-Sha...
    - slg 1y ago
      That’s interesting, although that seems to be a different usage than OP mentioned. It seems to be used interchangeably with headphones as it’s also being used to describe cables and jacks.

0xffff2 1y ago

I'm reasonably certain that I am about as old if not slightly older than the invention of in-ear headphones. I'm also reasonably certain that I have always used "headphones" to refer to any small portable speaker designed to inject sound directly into the ears. I'm absolutely certain I have never used the term "earphones", although "ear buds" was/is a common synonym for in-ear headphones.

hnlmorg 1y ago
I’m probably around 2 decades older than the invention of earphones and people definitely did used to call them that here in the UK.
- conductr 1y ago
  Then the US English is winning out because we never said earphones over here. I’m much older so have a clear memory of when they hit the market. We said earbud for a while but that was a momentary distinction and it seems we’ve mostly reverted to our generic term of headphones (which lacks any distinction on form factor ) so we use it for pretty much any and all cases. I actually think the AirPods naming helped this as it’s kind of a clunky product name that’s nearly a misnomer if you consider iPod is still a part of our vernacular. I don’t hear people saying “where are my AirPods?” Instead it’s “where are my headphones?” Had it been called AirBuds then maybe it would have stuck since ear buds was a thing. As I think back, I feel like earbud is distinctly tied to the corded iPod accessory. As that died out, so has the term.
- userbinator 1y ago
  You are... 150 years old? https://patents.google.com/patent/US454138A/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US454138A/en This nipple is adapted for insertion into the ear, and is ordinarily covered with a rubber cover to lessen the friction against the orifice of the ear.

beala 1y ago

I use them interchangeably. Webster appears to back me up here. However, I only say earbud when referring to the type that's inserted into the ear.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

efficax 1y ago

i've never heard anyone say "earphones"