Dumbphone: The English We Speak - YouTube

Feifei: Hello and welcome to The English

We Speak. I'm Feifei.

Neil: And I'm Neil. So how was your

holiday, Feifei? Got any photos?

Feifei: Yeah! Aren't they cool?

Neil: Well, I haven't seen them.

Feifei: Haven't seen them? Well check out

my social media feeds.

Neil: Erm… well, I'll have to wait till I get

to my computer. I can't see anything on

this dumbphone.

Feifei: Dumbphone?!

Neil: Yeah, I was getting addicted to my

smartphone – I couldn't stop checking it

every five seconds - so I got rid of it and

now I have this dumbphone! It's brilliant –

it does absolutely nothing apart from

phone and text!

Feifei: Oh I see. The opposite of 'smart' is

'dumb', so the opposite of a smartphone

is a 'dumbphone'.

Neil: You've got it! It's very fashionable,

you know. Eddie Redmayne uses one!

Feifei: Hmm, not sure about that… But

let's hear some examples.

Man 1: Argh my arm is killing me from

playing around with my phone so much.

Woman 1: Get yourself a dumbphone, like

me. There's nothing to check!

My sleep has improved so much since I

got rid of my smartphone. There's no

temptation to stare at this dumbphone in bed!

I'm sick of being bullied by my smartphone.

I'm going to join the dumbphone revolution!

Feifei: This is The English We Speak

from BBC Learning English.

We're learning the word 'dumbphone'.

A dumbphone is a simple, old-fashioned

style mobile phone

which can only make calls and send text

messages. 'Dumb' is the opposite

of 'smart'.

Some people are choosing to use

them because they think smartphones

distract them too much.

Neil: It's a word that's only appeared over

the last couple of years, so you probably

won't find it in a dictionary – but it's been

used a lot in the media. So Feifei, how am

I going to see these holiday snaps of yours?

Feifei: Neil, just get a new smartphone.

Neil: No way. The past is the future!

Feifei: What next? Are you going to start

coming to work on a horse?

Neil: Now that is a great idea! Maybe

I could swap my computer for a

typewriter. And who really needs

electricity when you can have a nice gas lamp…

Feifei: Good bye!

Neil: Bye.