white telephone

English

Etymology

Calque of Italian telefoni bianchi.

Noun

white telephone (countable and uncountable, plural white telephones)

1. (derogatory) Italian light-comedy and melodramatic films from the Fascist period.
2. (often derogatory) Films of other nations that share a nonseriousness of tone and disconnection from reality with the Italian films.

Adjective

white telephone (comparative more white telephone, superlative most white telephone)

1. (often derogatory) Characteristic of the Italian genre of film, white telephone; a sense of consequence-free lives of privilege.

Alternative forms

• white-telephone

See also

• big white telephone