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(Edited by Rola (5794), Aug 24, 2012)
Computers' Nicknames: International Edition
Rola (5794), Aug 24, 2012
User AvatarWhat's also worth documenting are the computers' pet/nicknames, created thanks to human tendency to call things they like/hate pet/nicknames. This can even be practical if you dig up material in foreign language (or a forum discussion perhaps), and google.translate fails to catch all the puns. And we're here an international mix, right?

I'm more inclined to list contemporaneous names, not those invented today by the Internet crowd.

British slang:

  • Speccy - ZX Spectrum

    Polish slang:

  • atarynka (katarynka = street organ) - Atari 8-bit family
  • małe Atari (little Atari) - Atari 8-bit family (when compared to "grown up" ST)
  • komoda (commode/chiffonier) - Commodore 64
  • PeCet (pe-tset) that's how you pronounce PC, making it sound masculine (see below)
  • przyjaciółka (female friend) - literal translation of Amiga
  • spektrumna (trumna = coffin) - ZX Spectrum
  • User AvatarThe PSX for Playstation. Not sure where that came from actually.
    (Edited by Sciere Bronze Star Contributing Member (206027), Aug 24, 2012)
    Re: Computers' Nicknames: International Edition
    Sciere Bronze Star Contributing Member (206027), Aug 24, 2012
    User AvatarPlayStation X (PSX) was the name of the add-on Sony was developing for Nintendo's SNES (similar to SEGA's 32X later), until they went on and made it their own console.
    User AvatarI thought about nicknames given by users, not official ones (such as Joyce for Amstrad PCW).
    (Edited by Patrick Bregger (85405), Aug 24, 2012)
    Re: Computers' Nicknames: International Edition
    Patrick Bregger (85405), Aug 24, 2012
    Rola Wrote:
  • przyjaciółka (female friend) - literal translation of Amiga

  • In a similar translation, Germans quite often used (and use) "Freundin" for Amiga.

    Also "Brotkasten" (breadbox) for C64 (because of its casing).
    User AvatarSimilarly, Swedes call the C64 "Brödburken" (cf Brotkasten) and old people call it VIC-64 (original marketing name).

    Jealous Atari users sometimes called the Amiga "Amöba".
    User AvatarGerman slang:

    • Freundin (female friend) - literal translation of Amiga
    • Brotkasten (bread box, from the original beige design) - Commodore 64
    • Dose (can, derived from DOS) - PC
    • Türstopper (door stop, derived from the rubber keys - turn it around and you have one) - ZX 81 and Spectrum
    User AvatarI like the nick names for the old Acorn computers: Beeb for BBC Micro and Elk for the Electron.
    User AvatarI've sometimes heard the Genesis called the "Genny" here.

    Japanese tends to have shortened terms for longer loan words: PlayStation becomes Puresute (プレステ), Super Famicom becomes Sūfami (スーファミ) etc... It's more shorthand than an actual nickname, though.
    (Edited by chirinea (31388), Aug 24, 2012)
    Re: Computers' Nicknames: International Edition
    chirinea (31388), Aug 24, 2012
    User AvatarBrazilian slang:
    • Nintendinho (little Nintendo) - NES
    • xisboca (pronounced "shees-bo-ca") - Xbox 360. It even appeared with that name on Turma da Mônica comics.
    Also, it is common in (Brazilian) Portuguese to drop the second name of a composite name, so Master System becomes Master, Mega Drive becomes Mega and so on.

    Edit: the title says "computer nicknames", but since people started mentioning consoles I also did.
    User AvatarThere's no Nintendo Entertainment System in the minds of Estonian people, there's only "TV game" (telekamängud), or to people who are slightly more aware than that, Dendy (the famous Famiclone distributed in Russia). While in that case it's a name for a specific Famiclone type, for most Russians (and as a spill-out market, Estonia) Dendy became synonymous with whatever Famiclone out there, be it the Dendy, Subor or even NES itself!
    User AvatarThe TRS-80 was of course affectionately referred to even by its fans as the TRaSh-80.
    User Avatar"Personalka" - a name with feminine suffix, derived from Personal Computer.

    "Komp", "Kompik" - short from Computer.

    "Dendy", as Donatello mentions, was and is a very popular name for NES here in Russia, and many retired gamers would only remember this name.

    "Sega" - that's how MegaDrive was called here in the '90-s and '00-s.
    User Avatar
    1. Yashhik, korobka (box) – Xbox 360
    User Avatar"Ployka" (translated as fluting iron) - PlayStation 3, PS2, or PS1. Has nothing to do with the translation, I guess, other than it can get very hot at times. It's just "play" (ploy) with the suffix "ka", frequently used at informal naming.

    "ZYZA" - PSP. This one appeared this way: when you type P.S. on a Russian-English keyboard with Russian language on you get З.Ы. (Z.Y.). Adding another Z (P) was just logical. And adding "A" was very natural for any Russian-speaker.

    I also saw PS Vita being called "Vitya" or "Vit'ka" (a Russian name, short from Victor) on message boards.

    "Dska" [de-es-ka] - Nintendo DS.
    User AvatarSlightly off topic, but it really bothers me when people call the GBA "Game Boy Advanced". There is no D at the end people!!!
    (Edited by Terok Nor (16793), Sep 27, 2012)
    Re: Computers' Nicknames: International Edition
    Goddy Jean, Sep 27, 2012
    (Edited by leilei (258), Sep 29, 2012)
    Re: Computers' Nicknames: International Edition
    leilei (258), Sep 29, 2012
    User AvatarLeiLei, followed by a number, which represents its generation. I'm up to LeiLei9 now.
    (Edited by M4R14N0 (998), Nov 10, 2012)
    Re: Computers' Nicknames: International Edition
    M4R14N0 (998), Nov 10, 2012
    User AvatarARGENTINIAN SLANG

    Family/Family Game -- Famiclones (although I think some folks have also used that term to refer to the NES itself. Family Game was the most common Famiclone here, hence that term)

    Sega -- Sega Genesis (even to this day it's still being used)

    Play -- The PlayStation family (except for the handhelds - this is one that's gotten into the mainstream, and nowadays it's sadly being used mostly to refer to the Pro Evolution Soccer series, since that's what people mostly play on their PS2s/PS3s -hell, a lot of people only buy a console JUST TO PLAY THOSE-, and I have heard it being used REGARDLESS OF WHAT CONSOLE IT'S BEING PLAYED ON, and perhaps even used to refer to FIFA. I may be imagining this, though)

    Those are the ones I can recall right now.
    You have been banned in WordReference as your username is Taewong on WordReference’s forum. However, you need more slang for more languages. The site is responding slow for a few seconds. Who the hell wants you to unblock Taewong in WordReference?
    User Avatar> Commodore C64:

    "Cevi"
    > comes from:
    1. spelling out the German pronounciation of the company designator "C" ("Ce" as opposed to the English "Cee"); and
    2. combining it with writing out the subsequently shortened German pronounciation of the last numeral (vier) found in the designation of Commodore's ugly box.

    Important trivia: Germany's last dedicated C64 magazine was named Cevi-Aktuell. Some Swiss/French union of cretins seems to have taken a liking to this name as well.
    (Edited by Tae Wong (29), Jan 03, 2013)
    Re: Computers' Nicknames: International Edition
    Tae Wong (29), Dec 30, 2012
    Every time he tries to post content with “sem sentido” (nonsense), the moderators have to edit their posts. You have been banned in the forums for replying and posting. However, you can edit posts.
    User Avatar
    Rola Wrote:
    What's also worth documenting are the computers' pet/nicknames, created thanks to human tendency to call things they like/hate pet/nicknames. This can even be practical if you dig up material in foreign language (or a forum discussion perhaps), and google.translate fails to catch all the puns. And we're here an international mix, right?

    I'm more inclined to list contemporaneous names, not those invented today by the Internet crowd.

    British slang:

  • Speccy - ZX Spectrum

    Polish slang:

  • atarynka (katarynka = street organ) - Atari 8-bit family
  • małe Atari (little Atari) - Atari 8-bit family (when compared to "grown up" ST)
  • komoda (commode/chiffonier) - Commodore 64
  • PeCet (pe-tset) that's how you pronounce PC, making it sound masculine (see below)
  • przyjaciółka (female friend) - literal translation of Amiga
  • spektrumna (trumna = coffin) - ZX Spectrum



  • spectrumna - "unfriendly" name, like a złomodore (złom - wreck) and szmatari (szmata - rag/slut). Time "platforms war" ;)
    User AvatarFrench (Quebec) Slang:

    Ordi (short for Ordinateur) - Any kind of PC Portable - Laptop Nintendo - NES Nitendo (kids tend to nos pronounce one of the 'n's) - NES Super Nin - SNES trois-soixante (360) - Xbox360 Sega - SEGA Genesis

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