Explanation: Germans ~~used to~~ (apparently only in my bubble) call cellphones "Handy" and many people still do that. My friends from america found that quite hilarious.
"Used to call"? No?!
Most people in my bubble stopped saying that. They usually just say "smartphone" now.
With my peers it's mostly just "phone" nowadays. Likely because landline phones are really rare now.
I also do that but I think „Handy“ is still the most common term. When there is any need for clarification for what you mean by „phone“, „handy“ will clear it up for everyone.
Definitely still the most widely used word. I guess it is changing because the younger generations speak better English in general and prefer using correct words.
phone
You mean, your German peers literally use the English word 'phone' or do they say 'Telefon'?
They say "Telefon".
Well you have basically three options in my bubble.
Handy
Wischkästla (translates roughly to swipe box)
Mobiltelefon (mobile phone) this one needs to be pronounced very precisely in order to get the sarkasm of using the old correct German word.
Wischkästla
What kind of demonic incantation is this?
Kind regards,
- Someone from Schleswig-Holstein
Its not your bubble, when I learnt German Handy was the word for phone they taught me
I may be wrong regarding that it isn't widely used any more.
And yes, it was the first word I learned for mobile phone, too.
It is still very common
Duolingo is insistent on calling it a handy. It does my head in.
It is the correct term. I would just like to know who came up with that?
The term 'Handy' for mobile phones started to become common around 1992. There are various different theories about the origin of the term but none of them has been conclusively proven.
In WW2 Motorola produced a Handie-Talkie (SCR-536) that could actually be hold in your hand (the famous Walkie-Talkie was strapped to your back). There have been plenty of successors with the same name but researchers doubt that this was really that widely known at the beginning of the 90s. Yet, one of the first GSM phones by Loewe was subsequently named HandyTel 100.
German-speaking CB radio circles used the term already before 1992 for hand-held transceivers. There are actually magazines and other things from as early as 1986 where the term is used.
It must have spilled over from these circles to maybe a marketing department (Telekom claims it was theirs, without prove though) to public consciousness.
My parents recently got a hummingbird feeder and my dad was bragging about how many "Hummers" he was getting in the yard.
His feeder brings all the Hummers to the yard.
I’m sure this is where the joke about Germans being overly friendly came from.
In Switzerland we also say Natel.
To add a few more details: Natel is short for "Nationales Autotelefon", which means national car phone. And existed as a brand since the 1970s.
That word will never not remind me of this hilarious Stephen Fry bit from QI 😂
Beat me to it.
Beat meat to it haha gottem
It's like people are trolling, everyone calls it a handy because that is what it is called.
What is a handy in the US?
A handjob. Better don't ask anyone for a handy.
Py peer review:
I have a bro in the US @Zengen@social.fossware.space. He visited me a couple times in Germany (even for my wedding) and I visited him in the US two times. Last time with my wife and my kids, in April. When we explained to his family what a Handy is in Germany, they all laughed and this is what ultimately led me to the creation of this meme.
Also, he and I frequently make jokes about it.
Duolingo says it's handy, and I have no reasons to doubt my green master
Er... I mean teacher!
Ich, ein Auslander: "Wie sagst Man 'Hand' auf Deutsch? ... Ach, ja."
Reminds me of my first day studying abroad in Germany and trying to ask a random guy at the train station to borrow his lighter.
Me, miming lighting a cigarette: "Wie sagt man—" Him: "Man sagt FEUER!"
In Lebanon, “Handy” means a cordless landline.
Listen, guys. I lived in Germany for my entire life and even though I know that "Handy" is common, I'm trying to say that I personally don't hear it nearly as often as I used to a couple years ago.
Ich geb dir nicht mein Mobiles Telefon, kauf selber eins!!!elf
I found this out as a visitor when a local told me I could get a handy at the T-Mobile store. I was like "for real? I only saw kids working in there. That's kinda gross."
Our German family also calls them handys.
