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Re: CHAT: postcodes

From:Thomas R. Wier <trwier@...>
Date:Sunday, September 22, 2002, 18:57
Quoting Tristan <kesuari@...>:

> Why is it that Americans (and non-English speakers who've learnt American > English) call mobile phones 'cell phones'? What's the 'cell' in question?
Others have already pointed out the etymology of the word. Also, sometimes people use "mobile phone" for a handheld cordless phone whose base is attached to a regular landline. Cordless phones of this type were common considerably before cell phones, and so the confusion would have had to be avoiced in any case with a different name. ========================================================================= Thomas Wier "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally, Dept. of Linguistics because our secret police don't get it right University of Chicago half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of 1010 E. 59th Street Abu Dhabi, to a French reporter. Chicago, IL 60637

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Padraic Brown <elemtilas@...>