Totally tubular - Wordsmith.org

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No, it's not about "valley speak" (let's see how the power of suggestion really works), it's about words for that thing. Ya know, the box with the pictures and sound. That thing that was *supposed to be the best educational invention in the last century, but quickly went downhill from there. That thing people stare at some ungodly amount of time each day, and now when they don't, they stare at its not so little and growing brother the computer. Hey yer lookin' at one right now!

We used to call it "the tube".

Dad called it "the idiot box".

Any other favorite colloquialisms for *it?

Boob tube.

The brain sucker {sounds better in Spanish} Chupa Sesos

You're right, Consuelo, it does sound better in Spanish. Which word means "brain"? "Chupa" or "sesos"

I don't remember ours being called anything but "the television(in French) and TV (in English)" - well, exept for a brief period in 1976 when we got our very first colour television and it switched to being called "the colour T.V."

In the same thread vein...we used to call our record player a "pick-up" because you could close the lid and cart it around (the first boom box

)

Oddly, the term was used for all record players even those big furniture deals. Oh and the term was used by French people (we used to have a lot of Anglo terms mixed into our everyday speech)

personal memory...our first pick-up naturally coincided with our very first record..."The lion sleeps tonight."

We kids played it over and over. Imagine the "Wheeeeee deeee deee deee deee wum wum away" ten or twelve times in a row. I'm surprised my mom didn't destroy the thing.

"the idiot box".

My parents called it the "square box" (hmmm, perhaps overexposure is why I turned out square?)

and we were threatened with "you'll get square eyes" if we watched too much of it!

Seso = brain

chupa = suck

Chupa can also mean cheat.

Thanks, Faldage. Want to play some Scrabble in Spanish?[rubbing hands together-e]

Telly is probably the most common here, but TV and by extension teev are also common. Televij is used for reasons unbeknownst to me. Tube has made a comeback recently, while "the box" is used mainly tongue in cheek.

when we were kids, mum used to refer to it as the 'goggle-box'

The, of course, there's the small screen.

The Only WO'N!

We used to call it "the tube"
as in Cathode Ray Tube, or CRT.

But watch now, as technology continues its inexorable advance and liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) replace CRTs as I anticipate they will within ten years or so (LCDs are lighter, consume less power, etc.). Will we still call it the tube (or the boob tube if we want to be less respectful)? When it isn't a tube any more? Just look at what happened to the telephone - we still call people by "dialing." In Britain or Oz do they still "ring you up?" The silly devices don't even ring any more, they tweetle!

Science marches on, but sometimes language stands still.
but perhaps remains the more picturesque for it!

Hmmm, in French we say Signal. As in, "will you signal the number to the pizza place"

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Technology...at least you are still dealing with the same basic thing when watching t.v. Think of all the changes to the way we listed to music. Phonographs, record player, cd players, dvd's and mp3's

The only reason my son knows what a 45 is, is that I've kept them all. 78's - he's never even seen.

Oh, and what were those big ole cassette things - 8 track in French (assuming it is the same in English)