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Comment by krrrh | Hacker News Reader

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.

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In Chinese it translates to "hand machine," and computer translates to "electric brain"

In 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

That'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.

> 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.

> 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.

I 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.

Handy (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)

Yeah, we have all of that here, adjective and all.

A 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.

Good 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.

> blowey or blowie

Although blower is slang for a phone in the UK.

In American English, a handy means... something else.

Mobile could work, though, and I've heard it used.

In 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".

In Polish it's "komórka" which literally means "a cell"(like a cell in your body).

Likewise in French, 'portable', similar to mobile.

Case in point, the term is also used for laptops.

I 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".

Maybe 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.

I'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".

I 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)

I've heard "motor" used quite frequently for "car", but only ever hear it from my 70yo father now (UK English).

I'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.

Motor is the only word used for engine in Swedish, I believe it's the same in other nordic languages.

Nah, 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/

Well that's certainly an interesting example - that website uses the word "car" in every instance except the domain name.

I think as a usage it's regarded as vaguely old fashioned and twee.

For comparison here's https://www.mobiles.co.uk/ - again, in every instance the noun is either "phone" or the fully qualified "mobile phone".

I think you misinterpreted the point. As I read it, "car" and "phone" are the terms Americans (and others) use, and that the British sometimes used "auto" and "mobile" but that usage is dying out (which doesn't conflict with you not having heard it).

As an American, "car" and "phone" are definitely the norm. The only time I've ever heard "mobile" is as a prefix to phone, so "mobile phone". It's sometimes used on forms to distinguish between home, work and mobile numbers (like I just did).

"Auto" maybe but "mobile" and "phone" are definitely equally used synonyms along with "mobe" in all the areas of the UK that I have been to (most).

"Landline" is seeing a resurgence as general parlance for the thing gathering dust, which used to be simply _the_ phone.

I concur - native en_GB speaker here. Auto(mobile) is probably avoided as a general synonym for car because we use "automatic" to differentiate from the default "manual" AKA "stick-shift".

Having said that, this is probably only modern usage. The AA (Automobile Association) and RAC (Royal Automobile Club) both feature "automobile" in their names and are both well over 100 years old.

I suppose (without doing any research) car is probably short for carriage.

Much more likely to say "motor".

In 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.

I spent a lot of time (months each year, for 5 years) in Berlin and never heard this... FWIW

I'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.

Mobile is short for mobile phone. I think most people are most likely to say "bring your phone", rather than "bring your mobile".

Depends on a country. Mobile is popular as well.

I 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".

In 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.

Yeah. Mobile and cell are both popular in India , in that order

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