Talk:Laptop

Gender

This can also be neuter, no? Ƿidsiþ 20:42, 28 November 2013 (UTC)

True, though less common (to my mind at least).

Generally, Duden and other prescriptivists have a strong tendency to make English words neuters unless there's a clear reason why they should be something else. Very often, however, the masculine (or sometimes the feminine) is what is preferred in actual use. I agree that der Laptop is predominant. Das Laptop isn't rare as well, but it always sounds a bit stilted and unnatural to me. Of course, it may sound natural to a lot of people.

In this case, however, I have to defend Duden against my own attack. They say "der, auch: das", which means they accept that the neuter is rarer.