Handy

See also: handy and händy

English

Etymology

Originating as a nickname for a handy person.

Proper noun

Handy

1. A surname transferred from the nickname.
2. (rare) A male given name from English.

Anagrams

• Haydn

German

FWOTD – 2 April 2013

Handy

Etymology

Some sources claim the existence of an early English preform. Perhaps from English handie-talkie, apparently used as a Motorola product name based on walkie-talkie. Or perhaps derived from English handheld transceiver, coined by CB radio users, later informally applied to the first mobile phones, and soon found in product names.

Others assert the use for a phone is exclusively German, possibly as a short form of Handfunktelefon, as which it was marketed by firms like Bosch and Hagenuk. Thus equivalent to an anglicisation of Hand (“hand”) +‎ -i (diminutive suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛndi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛndi

Noun

Handy n (strong, genitive Handys, plural Handys or (now nonstandard) Handies)

1. (mobile telephony) mobile phone, mobile, cell phone, phone (portable, wireless telephone)

   Synonyms: Mobiltelefon, (Switzerland) Natel

   • 1994 May 11, Ralf Schlüter, “Stimmungen frei Hand”, in Berliner Zeitung‎^[1]:

     Alle paar Minuten hängt er am Handy und macht Termine klar.

     Every few minutes he's on his cell phone arranging appointments.

   • 2008, Ulrich Breymann, Heiko Mosemann, Java me, Hanser Verlag, →ISBN, page 283:

     Bluetooth ist eine drahtlose Kommunikationstechnologie. Der Ursprung dieser Technologie liegt im Jahre 1994, als die Firma Ericsson eine Alternative zu Kabeln für die Verbindung ihrer Handys zum Zubehör wie Headsets suchte.

     Bluetooth is a wireless communication technology. This technology originated in 1994, when Ericsson was looking for an alternative to cables for connecting their cell phones to accessories like headsets.

   • 2009, Ernst Stahl, E-Commerce-Leitfaden, ibi research, →ISBN, page 123:

     Der Kunde hält sein Handy zum Bezahlen einfach an ein Lesegerät und der Betrag wird von seinem Konto abgebucht.

     To pay, the customer just holds his cell phone up to a reader and the amount is deducted from his account.

   • 2018, “Unwiederbringlich”, in Die Unendlichkeit, performed by Tocotronic:

     Es gab noch keine Handys / Es war alles Gegenwart

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Declension of Handy [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Handy	die	Handys, Handies1
genitive	eines	des	Handys	der	Handys, Handies1
dative	einem	dem	Handy	den	Handys, Handies1
accusative	ein	das	Handy	die	Handys, Handies1

¹Proscribed.

Derived terms

• handyfrei
• Handynummer
• Handyspiel
• Handyvertrag
• Scheißhandy

Descendants

• →? English: handy

Further reading

• “Handy” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Handy” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Handy” in Duden online
• Handy on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

Luxembourgish

Etymology

Via German Handy, from English handy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhændi/

Noun

Handy m (plural Handyen)

1. mobile phone, mobile

   Hien däerf den Handy vu sengem eelere Brudder benotzen.

   He may use his elder brother's mobile phone.