the.com/cellphone
The leash you bought yourself and now can't stop checking.
means A portable wireless telephone that also handles texting, internet, photos, and most of modern life.
from A straightforward compound of 'cell' (from 'cellular' — the honeycomb of overlapping radio zones, or 'cells,' that towers use to pass your call along as you move) and 'phone,' from Greek 'phōnē,' meaning sound or voice. The tech term 'cellular network' dates to mid-20th-century engineering; 'cellphone' as an everyday word caught on once the devices got small and common enough to need a casual name.
- origin
- named for cellular radio towers, not biology
- first call
- made in 1973, weighed 2.5 pounds
- habit loop
- unlocked 50 to 100 times a day, unconsciously
- irony
- makes calling someone feel old fashioned