- Mobile phone terms across the world
The following is a list of mobile phone terms used around the world.
"
Mobile phone s" are known as:
* "cellulair", "mobile" or "telefon" inLebanon .
* "cell phones" or "cell" inCanada ,India ,Pakistan , thePhilippines ,South Africa , and theUnited States .
* "celular" or "cel" inAlbania .
* "celulares" (singular form "celular") inArgentina ,Chile ,Mexico ,Puerto Rico and other Spanish-speaking countries except Spain as the Spanish word for "Cellular". It is also used in Portuguese-speakingBrazil .
* "cep telefonu" (pocket phone) inTurkey
* "clamshell" in theUnited States andUK , a phone that opens up to reveal the keypad, microphone, and earpiece; these are typically more compact than other designs. Often called "flip phones" (although 'flip phone' is a trademark ofMotorola ). Clamshell phones became very popular in the United States after the introduction of Motorola'sStarTAC in 1996. While this style of referred to as a "clamshell" (a term that is already outdated), few if any people referred to their telephone as a clamshell. Rather, this term is used to refer to the cell phone style.
* "dzhiesem" (джиесем) (fromGSM ) inBulgaria , refers only toGSM mobile phones
* "Di động" (mobile phone) , "điện thoại cầm tay" (handy phone) or "môbai" inVietnam .
* "Farsími" (Official for all mobile phone systems), "Gemsi" (means young sheep, referring to GSM), "GSM-sími" (For phones using the GSM System), or "NMT-sími" (For phones using theNordic Mobile Telephone -system) inIceland
* "fònaichean làimhe" (meaning hand phone; singular form "fòn làimhe") or "fònaichean phoca" (meaning pocket phone; singular form "fòn phoca") in Scottish Gaelic
* "ffôn symudol" in Welsh
* "fón póca", "teileafón póca" ('pocket telephone') or "guthán soghluaiste" ('mobile telephone') in Irish
* "Gar utas" ( _mn. "Гар утас"), meaning "hand phone" is used in Mongolian. Informally, both "gar" (hand) and "utas" (phone) is used.
* "GSMs" inBelgium (written "gsm" in Dutch and "GSM" in French).
* "hand phones" or "handphones" (핸드폰) in manyAsia n countries such asMalaysia ,Singapore andSouth Korea , encompassing cell phones or any wireless phones connected totelecommunication providers. In South Korea, it is also called "hyudae jeonhwa" (휴대 전화; 携帶電話) or "hyudaepon" (휴대폰).
* "handyphone" in thePhilippines byGlobe Telecom (used by the main mobile branch of Globe,Globe Handyphone )
* "Handy" (plural form "Handys"), pronounced /IPA|hɛndi/, apseudo-anglicism that is used inAustria andGermany for a mobile phone (rare alternative spelling: Händi). In German, the word "Handy" has the meaning of "Hand-Telefon" or "handgehaltenes Mobiltelefon" (translated to English: "handheld mobile telephone"). The term possibly derived from the 1940s product name "Handie-Talkie" for a handheld military radio. (The backpack version was introduced as "Walkie-Talkie ".)
* "telefon-hamráh" or "hamráh" (تلفن همراه, literally "companion phone") inIran ,"mobile" is also very common in informal conversation .
* "jawwal" (mobile) inSaudi Arabia
* "ګرزندوی" ("Gharzandoi") (mobile)& تثلفون همراه inPashto andDari (Persian) ,Afghanistan
* "Keitai" (携帯, "portable", short for "keitai denwa", 携帯電話, "portable telephone") inJapan ;semantic development is very close to words like "mobile". "Handy Phone" is also used (ハンディフォン)
* "khelyawi" (cellular) inLebanon
* "kinitó" (κινητό), short for "kinitó tiléfono" (κινητό τηλέφωνο), which means mobile phone inGreece andCyprus
* "komórki" (singular form "komórka") or "telefon komórkowy", meaning "cells"/"cellular phone" inPoland
* "mahmool" ("محمول") or "Jawwal" ("جوَّال') or "Khelyawi" ("خليوي") or "Mobile" ("موبايل") in Arabic
* "matkapuhelimet" (literally travel-phones, singular form "matkapuhelin") or "kännykät" (singular form "kännykkä", very close in meaning to the German "Handy") inFinland ; actually trademarked by Nokia in 1987 but fallen into generic use and would probably not be upheld any more if contested in a court of law
* "Meu Teu" ("มือถือ") inThailand
* "moby", short for "mobile" (in the sense of "mobile phone"), a slang term in everyday usage in the UK.
* "mobieltje" inthe Netherlands
* "mobifon" (мобифон), a contraction of "mobilen telefon" (мобилен телефон) inBulgaria , which came into usage with the introduction of1G mobile phones. AsGSM mobile phones became more widely used, some started calling them "dzhiesem" as to distinguish them from1G phones. The remaining1G phones are still referred to as "mobifon", whileGSM phones are referred to by most as "dzhiesem", although it is looked down upon by some.
* "mobil" inCzech Republic ,Denmark ,Hungary ,Norway ,Slovakia andSweden
* "mobilais telefons" or "mobilais" inLatvia
* "mobile", short for "mobile phone" (in the sense of "cellular phone"), a term in everyday usage in most English-speaking countries such as the UK, Republic of Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Also commonly used by industry insiders in theUnited States , although with a different pronunciation (mo-b'l as opposed to mo-bile). A common term to use inPakistan .
* "mobiles" inAustralia ,India ,Ireland ,New Zealand ,Pakistan , UK
* "Мобілка" or "Mobilka" as a slang term inUkraine
* "mobilni telefon" (мобилни телефон) inSerbia . Abbreviated forms are frequently used: "mobilni" ("мобилни") or just "mob" ("моб")
* "mobilní telefony" (singular form "mobilní telefon"), or simply "mobily" ("mobil") inCzech Republic
* "mobilny telefon" (= mobile phone), or "mobilnik, mobila" for short. Older names are "sotovy telefon" (= cell phone) and "trubka", "truba" (= handset) inRussia
* "mòbils" inAndorra
* "mobiltelefon" inDenmark ,Germany (Mobiltelefon, formerly Mobiltelephon, is the official German term),Hungary ,Norway ,Sweden (sometimes "nalle" inSweden , meaning "teddy bear" translated to English, originally referring to the term "yuppie -nalle" since until the late 1980s only rich "yuppies" could afford them and they showed them off in a way that looked as they were carrying a yuppie teddy bear, nowadays only "nalle" is used representing that people always carry them around and feel insecure if they misplace them, like a child missing their teddy bear)
* "mobilus telefonas" or "mobilus" inLithuania
* "mobitel" inSlovenia ,Croatia and Bosnia. They are named after a company called Mobitel which was the first national cell phone network operator inSlovenia . The name is made from the words for Mobile and Telephone.
* " celular",and even "celula" or a bit older term : "movicom" (because of the first company to have a cell phone network)inUruguay .
* "móviles" ("móvil") in Spanish and "mòbils" ("mòbil") in Catalan inSpain
* "muthophone" (phone in the palm) inBangladesh . This term is used because mobile phone can be held and used in palm. This term is popular among teenagers and in the literary world ofDhaka .
* "nalle" inSweden and otherNordic /Scandinavian countries. In Scandinavian, 'nalle' actually means 'teddy bear'; connoting the pet-like status which mobile phones sometimes have.
* "Natel" ("Nationales Autotelefon") inSwitzerland
* "/pelefon/" (פלאפון; literally wonder-phone), as derived from the first such operator, or /najad/ (נייד; mobile) inIsrael
* "Ponsel" (telepon selular, cellular phones), or HP (shortened from Hand Phone, but pronounced ha-pe, not like HP in English) in Indonesian
* "poŝtelefonoj" ("pocket phones", pronounced "poshtelefonoy") by users ofEsperanto
* "portable" (literally portable) inFrance
* "sau kei" (Simplified Chinese :手机 Traditional Chinese:手機), Cantonese transliteration for "手机" or "手機", a similar term to that of handphone or mobile phone but is translated to mean "hand's device" or "hand's device telephone", used in Canonese speaking areasHong Kong andGuangdong Province of China.
* "shou ji" (Simplified Chinese :手机 Traditional Chinese:手機), the Chinesepinyin spelling translation for "手机" or "手機", a similar term to that of handphone or mobile phone but is translated to mean "hand's device" or "hand's device telephone", used in Mandrin speaking areasMainland China andTaiwan .
* "slider", a form where the two halves slide together. This design allows the main display to be shown while the keypad is hidden. [where is it used?]
* "sotka" (short form of cellular phone in Russian language) inUzbekistan
* "Telefon Bimbit" (Mobile Phone) inBahasa Malaysia *
* "telefon selolari" (cellular phone) in formal Hebrew. Most of the Israelis say "pelephone" (פלאפון) like the name of the first mobile company.
* "telefon mobil" (pl. "telefoane mobile"), but the short form is more common: "mobil" (mobile) inRomania ; "celular" (pl. "celulare") is also common
* "Telefonino" (meaning small phone), or "Cellulare" (short form for "Telefono cellulare") inItaly
* "telefonito" (meaning little phone) inArgentina .
* "telefoonka gacanta" (literally "hand's phone") inSomalia
* "telemóvel" ("telefone móvel", "mobile telephone") inPortugal ,Angola ,Guinea-Bissau ,East Timor ,Macau andMozambique .
* "telephono cellular" by speakers ofInterlingua
* "teleponong selyular" (cellular telephone) in thePhilippines , used when speaking in Filipino
* "xing dong dian hua" (行動電話) inTaiwan , literal Chinese translation of "mobile phone".
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