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.