The word "Handy" for a mobile or cell phone

Dear native speakers,

some time (maybe six months) ago I heard somebody mention that some native speakers think the German term "Handy" for "mobile phone" is quite convenient and that it starts being used in texts.

Now a week ago a fellow English teacher claims a British woman in Germany asked him if she could borrow his "handy" while speaking English. As a consequence he says we should not treat it as a mistake any more if German pupils use it.

Come to think of it, probably it was the same guy who told me the native speakers start using it in the first place...

What do you think? I really like this guy but if he starts leading me on the Holzweg with my teaching, then that was it.

Sank ju in adwance :)

Lots of us call a mobile a handy, but only when we're in Germany. If you start calling it a handy in Britain you'll just get blank stares. So it should not be taught as an "English" word.

That's one of my pet hates!
When British people living in Germany start referring to their mobile phone as 'handy' when speaking English, please preserve your beautiful language!

In England nobody calls them 'handy', handy is something practical, more an adjective than a noun (I'm not a native English speaker so I'm guessing) like, 'My umbrella came in handy when it started to rain' or something like that.
I hate that word for a mobile phone, it is just WRONG!

The term "Handy" does occasionally slip in to the conversation sometimes (particlarly when people have been here for some time), but in English "handy" usually means "praktisch".

totally agree. If you say "handy" here they may think you are reffering to Handy Andy or if you say "can I borrow you're handy" I think the most likely reply would be "my handy what?".

Claims? Load of balls unless it was my mother he was speaking to, she's the only woman outside Germany that I know who knows what a Handy is and only because I told her. Although I suppose this woman could have been in Germany long enough to know that the Germans say Handy.

EDIT: What Nick said.

"How d'you do, I see you've met my faithful handyman"

I disagree.

It is most certainly a german word - although I have to say better than any UK equivalent - hence why brits tend to use the word over here!

Dunno what the correct "cool" word is in the UK? I guess most just use the word "mobile" but it is a bit vague frankly and "handy" is a much better and more woody word.

(for woody words see Python)

yes, mobile it is... some people say mobes but that's about as far as it goes...but I guess the kids should also be taught "cell" as the US equivalent for all-round English...(and seeing as the mobile is practically attached to most ears all the time I guess calling it a cell is quite adequate...it's a new cell...growing on the side of your head).

Handy is as good a word as cell phone, what the hell does cell phone mean, can you only use them in prison or what?

I have only ever heard English people say mobile or moby unless like me they have been here in Germany too long.

While we are on the subject, can anyone tell what a Beamer is called in England. They didn't exist when I moved here so I haven't a clue.

Yeah, a cancerous cell!

Seriously the language should be respected, when in Spain I call it 'Movil' , when in Mexico 'Celular', when in US 'Cell phone', when in the UK 'Mobile phone', I manage to remember all these words and feel no need to mix and match, it is not THAT hard.
My daughter knows that if she ever uses German words when speaking English to me she is short of getting a slap in the mouth, she made the 'handy' mistake once but never again, same with ending the phrases with 'or' (oder) instead of 'isn't it?' There would be hell to pay!

(overhead) projector, perhaps.

As for "mobile", that is the only word I've ever heard from the English, other than the abbreviation "moby".
English-speakers, on the other hand, have a range of expressions.

Now that is a good question! I'd call it a beamer and probably get the blank stares again!

The context of a conversation is somewhat important here. Just like the native speaker mentioned at the start, I would often deliberately but reluctantly also say "Handy" rather than "mobile" to a german, to avoid the hassle of having to explain myself (I could use the word "cell phone" which many understand, but i just wont).

In texts i'd use "mob" as a handy way of abreviating "mobile phone" but never "Handy" cos it isnt half as handy so it isnt.

It means cellular phone (principle of their operation).

Cell is short for celluar network, as in network is made up of cells of reception around the masts. Cell sounds odd the the English, until you get used to it, but it makes sense.

EDIT: What Koorosh said...

I was recently sitting around a table with an Australian and an American (being English myself), consuming beers and discussing this amongst other uses of "English" in German, and we all agreed, if "Handy" was a noun, it was be a low cost service offered by women of negotiable affection, and certainly not a cell/mobile phone.

Projector, a Beamer is a BMW (and that usage I believe comes from the US)

I know what it's short for, that doesn't make any more sense though, you still need to explain what cellular phone means and quite frankly I'd probably fall asleep listening to the technical explanation!

Do you really have problems with getting misunderstood when you say "mobile"? I see "Mobiltelefon" frequently as a more official term, e.g. in email signatures and on business cards. In fact, looking through the pile of German business cards on my desk, I see "mobil:", "mobile:" and "m:" used, but no "handy:" or "h:".

Don't know if it comes from there, but it's most certainly used in the UK too.
But I would spell that "beemer".
A beamer is a high full toss

Problem is my german accent is so shite they would probably think I was about to go shopping at Hindl or Ikea.

Then i suggest "protable phone". Easy pisy.

Handy is absolutely tinny, especially when pronounced Händi. I much prefer moby myself. Extremely woody.

Thanks, thanks, thank you so much! Toytown is it!

How about "wireless battery powered remote two-way communication device"?

But 'Móvil' is also an adjective being used as a noun, 'phone' is also a crippled version of telephone (far-voice) which can be used as either noun or verb.
I like the Italians calling it a 'telefonino'

We could start calling it Schnurlosfernsprecherapparat. In the 30s the nazis tried to Germanize the language by replacing 'television' by 'Fernseher' (just a translation of the words tele-vision) and 'telephone' by Fernsprecher (as you see, this one did not work).

Importing words and playing around with them is the only way to expand the language.

I have a little pocket in my jacket designed specifically for my Mobile Cell Portable Phone... Now thats Handy!

Yes it is pretty pissy.
Although the French call it "portable", which is also an adjective used as a noun. What's the problem with that anyway?

Edit: Thanks JE, but that is "scrotable"

(Video) projector, as opposed to the old-style overhead projector for displaying transparencies.

Like the word "Handy". Perfectly good word, absolutely everybody here, and I stress here, knows what you are talking about and therefore I use it. I actually heard the word handy before the word mobile so it comes pretty naturally to me.

'Handy' is quite...handy

The term "Handy" originated in the English language and was first used in the 1940s for mobile hand-held radio transmitters, "Handie-Talkies" of Motorola ("Walkie-Talkie" originally referred to a previous back mounted model).

Philips first used the term "Handy" for a mobile phone in Germany in the late 1980s, derived from their previous car phone "Porty".

To be noted is that most Germans pronounce Handy as "Hendy".

Fixed it for you.

What he said. It's basically positive evolution of a language. Countless examples about it, but this one is special because it went from English to German and back to English. I say adopt and distribute.

To me, "handy" sounds like a failed attempt by a non-native speaker to be clever: "Oh yes, it's a hand-held phone, so let's make a new word in English and call it a handy", not realising (or bothering to check) that the word already exists in English with an entirely different meaning. I think I've seen it used in some other European language too, but can't remember which one - maybe Italian?

Re what oli2000 said: Did Philips adopt the word from the English usage dating back to the 1940's, or did they simply reinvent it?

Agree GreenTea. There's another example: mobbing. We already have a word: bullying. Beamer has been mentioned already.

I hate the term handy...I think it is stupid. I think my bf says it but when he talks to me about my cell he calls it a mobile...I have started saying mobile over cell phone when speaking with non Americans. Though it is slipping into my daily conversation and at least my friends understand mobile. If I said handy they would think I was nuts...well they probably already think I am nuts.

No, as mentioned already they have telefonino (which is perfect, I find).

As for using "Handy" as a substitute for mobile/cell phone in English, I won't even discuss it.

Hey.. whatever it takes but do not mimic this awful word!

@GreenTea, Wheel, Kay & Amber127: You are some of the few voices of reason!

All you nay sayers are pissing in the wind, the word is there and we use it. All your huffing and puffing and getting all self righteous won't stop us. Handy is the word, simply because that's what everybody here understands, but to return to the original point of the thread, it's no good teaching it as an English word, because it isn't. It wouldn't be understood by anybody outside of Germany. Luckily that's where we live, so we can use it and we will!

I call it a hand-phone

You don't really though, do you?

Yes, that's ok by me, or as in: 'Sorry love, not tonight, I'm knackered, but would you settle for a handy?'

JUHU!


They also understand mobile, and I will keep on using that and never handy...

When speaking German and using the word 'mobile', how do you pronounce it then? Like 'Mobiltelefon' or English 'mobile'. I'd expect blank looks on faces when saying it in English.

Maybe it's just me and the amount of brown sugar I ate yesterday but this conjures up an image of a Nokia with the vibration function on and two 5 mm cable ties.

Handy... I will use the word (reluctantly because it is a stupid application of an English word) when speaking German.

In English, as a noun, it has zero meaning, and I would never use it - even if speaking to English speakers who know the phrase in German. In English a mobile phone is most often referred to as a 'mobile' or simply 'phone'.

As an ex Vodafone engineer I can tell you that 'cell phone' is actually the most logical name for these phones. A mobile phone network cosists of many radio base-stations which combine to form a more or less honeycomb pattern of radio coverage in a given area. When you make a call, the phone communicates with the nearest base station and, if you're on the move - I hesitate to use mobile! - any call in progress will be automatically and seamlessly handed on to the next base station in the network, and so on - of course it's not quite so simple as this, but you get the idea. Each element of the honeycomb is called a CELL and gets its name from the structure of a bee-hive

Well that is interesting...Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I like "handy" and use it when speaking both english and german. "mobile" sounds too uppity and "cell" too business like.