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.

  • Lumidaub@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    Ever since I realized what it means in english-speaking countries, I stopped saying it.

    Why? Why would it matter what a word means if interpreted via another language? I mean, you go ahead and do what you want, I don’t care, but I’d like to understand the reasoning behind that.

    • Netto Hikari@social.fossware.spaceOP
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      1 year ago

      Because I use english during most of the day. Many of my friends are from abroad and only speak english. I consume a lot of content in english, etc.

      And in German, I’d even prefer Mobiltelefon over Handy. Ever since I know that “Handy” could be interpreted as “Handjob” in the US, it feels really stupid to use this word. To me, the word now feels like a “boomer invention” and even though it’s in the Duden, I don’t consider it to be correct any more. At least for my own language. There are several words in the German and English languages that fit better.

      I don’t understand why it’d be hard to understand that.

      • Lumidaub@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        It’s not “hard to understand”, I was just interested in your reasons because I thought it was curious. I still don’t agree that it’s a big deal - I also consume mostly English-language media and most of my communication online is in English but I’m still typing this on my Handybildschirm. But you do you.

        Sent from my Handy.