90 replies to this topic

[sgt-scream]

2) Bond and MI6 would call it a Mobile Phone.

Off the top of my head the only direct phone ref I can think of is when Bond says that "she left her phone" (speaking to M regarding Vesper) and, at least in my memory, he simply calls it a "phone"...

he called it a cell phone I'm pretty sure.

[darkpath]

Do the Americans call it 'a cell'? I think the word 'phone' has become redundant now.

I have only heard two variants in American parlance:

• cell phone
• "cellie"

I have only observed the latter in urban areas or in those attempting to feign an "urban" sensibility.

[DaveBond21]

When I was in Germany, they called it a "Handy".



When I was in Thailand, a Handy was something quite different.....

[DaveBond21]

Does anyone think they should make the words used in the Bond films purely British?

[Bondian]

Yup. Casony Royale had plenty of product placement's.

I'd love to make a spoof whereby the actors in the scene are getting in the way of Sony products. lol

[MarcAngeDraco]

Do the Americans call it 'a cell'? I think the word 'phone' has become redundant now.

In order of frequency, this is what I hear (here in America):

1) cell ("call me on my cell")
2) cell phone ("call me on my cell phone")
3) no explicit reference ("call me" cell phone is implied because of location)
4) mobile ("call me on my mobile")

[DaveBond21]

In order of frequency, this is what I hear (here in America):

1) cell ("call me on my cell")
2) cell phone ("call me on my cell phone")
3) no explicit reference ("call me" cell phone is implied because of location)
4) mobile ("call me on my mobile")

So, do you think Bond should be using the British term (mobile phone?)

[Sbott]

In order of frequency, this is what I hear (here in America):

1) cell ("call me on my cell")
2) cell phone ("call me on my cell phone")
3) no explicit reference ("call me" cell phone is implied because of location)
4) mobile ("call me on my mobile")

So, do you think Bond should be using the British term (mobile phone?)

Bond's a Cambridge man and so it would be highly unlikely that he would use anything else but the British term, unless his mission requires it.

[MarcAngeDraco]

In order of frequency, this is what I hear (here in America):

1) cell ("call me on my cell")
2) cell phone ("call me on my cell phone")
3) no explicit reference ("call me" cell phone is implied because of location)
4) mobile ("call me on my mobile")

So, do you think Bond should be using the British term (mobile phone?)

Thinking about this with a little more emphasis on context, I need to amend my earlier post. When referring directly to a cell phone, I rarely use (or hear others use) any description other than simply 'phone'.

For example:

"I just got a new phone"
"I must have left my phone at home"

In my earlier post, I was listing instances where it was important to distinguish that I wanted someone to call me on my cell phone number rather than my home phone number.

So based on this, I'd have to say that Bond could simply have said "She left her phone" and mobile/cell would have been implied.

But I would have preferred if Bond used the appropriate British terminology, which by most accounts here seems to be 'mobile' or 'mobile phone'. (Actually, I find it rather irritating when Bond's dialogue sounds too American.)

[DaveBond21]

(Actually, I find it rather irritating when Bond's dialogue sounds too American.)

Me too, like when he says "Station break" or Alec says "Last call".

[Daddy Bond]

And speaking of Bond cellphones... take a look at this add for it!

http://www.evagreenw...y...m=376&pos=0

Cool ad, and what a fantastic banner of Eva!

[Daddy Bond]

Do the Americans call it 'a cell'? I think the word 'phone' has become redundant now.

I have only heard two variants in American parlance:

• cell phone
• "cellie"

I have only observed the latter in urban areas or in those attempting to feign an "urban" sensibility.

Hmmm? I have yet to hear "cellie". I guess I don't hang out with the right crowd.

[Major Tallon]

I've never heard cellie. I can't imagine any of us having a problem with "mobile" although in American pronunciation it rhymes with "noble." I'd say they should keep the British usage.

[DaveBond21]

I'd say they should keep the British usage

It doesn't seem like any of the Americans on here have a problem with British terms.

[Flash1087]

I'd say they should keep the British usage

It doesn't seem like any of the Americans on here have a problem with British terms.

James Bond IS British, after all, what right would we have to kvetch if he spoke like an Englishman?

And even still, I'm sure I'd know what he was referring to if he said 'mobile phone' or perhaps referred to the 'boot'* of a car.


*that's the trunk-right?

[Shadow Syndicate]

If I called my cellphone a 'cellie', Im pretty sure I'd get beat up, pretty fast

[Bon-san]

I, and most of the people I know call it a 'mobile'. It used to be 'Call me on my cell', but nowadays it's most often 'Call me on my mobile'.

[Royal Dalton]

Does anyone think they should make the words used in the Bond films purely British?

Yes. No more zipper's, etc, please.

[MkB]

[quote name='DaveBond21' post='765704' date='24 August 2007 - 05:11']Does anyone think they should make the words used in the Bond films purely British?[/quote]

Definitely.

[quote name='Flash1087' post='768286' date='1 September 2007 - 10:29']And even still, I'm sure I'd know what he was referring to if he said 'mobile phone' or perhaps referred to the 'boot'* of a car.
*that's the trunk-right?[/quote]

Right!
Nice to see there are more bilingual people in the US than expected by Old Oscar Wilde ;-)
[quote]

[Flash1087]

That's an awesome quote. And, unfortunately, it still applies today.

[DaveBond21]

So, no more "station break" or "cellphone" then?

[MkB]

So, no more "station break" or "cellphone" then?

No, and Bond should hide his dead enemies in the boot of an Aston Martin, not in the trunk of a Hummer. I say! ;-)

[Vauxhall]

Does anyone think they should make the words used in the Bond films purely British?

Absolutely! It was bad enough when the title of the 16th Bond movie had to be altered from "Licence Revoked"!

[DaveBond21]

Does anyone think they should make the words used in the Bond films purely British?

Absolutely! It was bad enough when the title of the 16th Bond movie had to be altered from "Licence Revoked"!

LOL.

[DaveBond21]

There is another one:-

I think it's in Moonraker, after Q shows Bond the wrist gun, and Bond says, "Must get them in the stores for Christmas".

Well, "stores" is an American saying. Bond, being British, would have talked about Q getting them into the "shops for Christmas".

[DaveBond21]

The middle USA has traditionally been highly resistant to British accents. In the early 1970's, one of our TV networks contemplated a series of Sherlock Holmes mysteries with Stewart Granger in the lead, but the project died because surveys showed that people were turned off by his accent, even though Granger hardly sounded British at all by that time.

For me, Bond's Britishness is critical to the character, and that should be reflected in the way the character speaks. Fleming was clear that he didn't want a stage-Englishman as his hero, always spouting "Cheerio" and "Pip pip," but the books are nevertheless written in a distinctly British idiom.

Here's Kingsley Amis: "the narrative style avoids Americanisms with unnatural studiousness. Bond does decide to have himself an old-fashioned ball, but so far as I know this is a unique lapse. *** The total effect is of refusal to assimilate American English, whether as a source of stylistic material or as a natural way for other people to talk. *** In impeccably British prose, then, Mr. Fleming goes to work on the Americans."

So, while EON needs to be concerned about the box office, my preference (as always) would be for Bond to prove true to his literary roots. If he refers to his mobile, we Yanks can sort it out, and most of us know what a lift is. So long as he doesn't drive a pantechnicon across a flyover on a dual carriageway, we'll be the better for hearing Bond in his author's voice.

Interesting.

[Skudor]

What the hell is a pantechnicon????

[MkB]

What the hell is a pantechnicon????

It's a kind of van (but it's an old-fashioned word).
Well, if even Brits don't understand British English....

[Skudor]

What the hell is a pantechnicon????

It's a kind of van (but it's an old-fashioned word).
Well, if even Brits don't understand British English....

I've certainly never heard that word before!

[Major Tallon]

Doncha ever read the dictionary?

Another of my favorite British motoring expressions is "central reservation" which Americans call "the median."