Let's make a new name for cellphones!!

Discussion in 'Linguistics' started by Syzygys, Jun 30, 2009.

  1. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,671
    1. I do. Also it doesn't sound cool. Nobody is using "smartphone" anyway.
    2. This website is international. Almost every term is shortened in txt, which is what these devices used for most.
    3. Or not, see above. See Itouch. Plenty buyers of that, because they can't afford the Iphone.

    Any other observations?
     
  2. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. baftan ******* Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,135
    British people call this gadget as “mobile phone” or shortly “mobile”. However, as it is indicated in OP, these gadgets are more than phones now. So calling them cell, or mobile will not make any harm, plus, they are in rapid evolution. I suspect in near future they will become more comprehensive and small; they would even become part of our bodies. Our bodies will be integrated with these gadgets or their components (earphone and microphone will be a tiny sticker spots and visual issues will be projected through iris). That’s why my suggestion would be “personal integration device” (PID) Temporarily of course…
     
  4. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. temur man of no words Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,330
    Are they called bio-implants or something?
     
  6. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. draqon Banned Banned

    Messages:
    35,006
    in russian its "mobilnik"
     
  8. codanblad a love of bridges Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,397
    skynet
     
  9. codanblad a love of bridges Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,397
    same in australia.
     
  10. draqon Banned Banned

    Messages:
    35,006
    well duh Australians are Englishmen.
     
  11. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    19,252
    So why is called a cellphone in the USA?
    Americans are just as English as Australians.
     
  12. draqon Banned Banned

    Messages:
    35,006
    too much foreign influence...french, germans, russian, spanish...etc

    thats why there is ft not m.
     
  13. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    19,252
    Oh right, it's like there's any "foreigners" in Australia

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!


    Nonsense.
    Aussies are no more "English" than Americans.

    "ft"?
    "m"?
     
  14. Stryder Keeper of "good" ideas. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    13,105
    I left out the caption:

    "The organiser for Idiots."
     
  15. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

    Messages:
    24,690
    We're notorious for having different words for technology in the two dialects. E.g., American flashlight, elevator, (car) hood, wrench, stroller, truck, (electrical) ground vs. British torch, lift, bonnet, spanner, pram, lorry, earth.
    Australia is one of the 53 countries in the British Commonwealth of Nations. The USA is not. Aussies use the British versions of the words on my list, in addition to slang terms like "mate" instead of "buddy."
    Wait... It's the "foreigners" who invented and popularized the metric system. Feet, acres, pounds, quarts and degrees Fahrenheit are called British units. On that one issue, we're more British than the British.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    Some day they'll be sending their grandchildren here on sabbaticals for immersion in authentic British nostalgia, e.g measuring auto fuel consumption in miles per gallon instead of liters per hundred kilometers.

    It's a shame we don't have shillings and guineas and ha'pennies.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  16. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    19,252
    That was my point to Draqon.

    So by that logic Bangladesh and Belize, for example, should be using "mobile" instead of "cell" (or whatever they do use)?
    My point was that whichever word is used has very little to do with any notional "allegiance" to a particular mother country, otherwise Aussies wouldn't talk about tinnies and a barbie being dinkum...

    Pfft, you forgot about farthings and groats.
     
  17. Jozen-Bo The Wheel Spinning King!!! Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,597
    Blah Blah Box
     
  18. Blue_UK Drifting Mind Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,449
    けいたい
     
  19. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,671
    People, I have decided, "smarty" it is.

    Now go out and promote it...
     
  20. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    19,252
    Been done, copyright problems.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  21. quadraphonics Bloodthirsty Barbarian Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    9,391
    Says you. In the circles I run in (i.e., telecom infrastructure R&D), everybody calls them smartphones. To the extent that the public hasn't picked up on the term, it seems to be because they don't use a general term for smartphones at all: they simply refer to their iPhone or Blackberry as such. The need for a blanket term will arise in a few years, as more and more products enter the sector.

    Indeed, and the British way of talking is unpopular in the vast majority of countries. Could be colonial hangover, or just the fact that speakers of English from the British Isles sound like jackasses.

    These devices are used most for voice calls, the odd twitter-happy teen notwithstanding.

    What does the iTouch have to do with anything? People also buy a lot of laptops, Nintendo DSs, and iPod shuffles, but none of that has any bearing on what we should call smartphones/cellphones.
     
  22. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,671
    Actually 2 completely unrelated products can have the same name, see Apple (also a Brit record company) or Omega (band and watchmaker) as example.

    Not to mention it is not a brandname but a collective name for a special device. Short of like hoover eventually became...
     
  23. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,671
    I bet you they are used more for texting. Phonecompanies definiately make more money on the text department...

    It was a counterargument to your statement...

    Anyhow, smarty it is.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     

Share This Page