Clicker, Zapper, and Other Words for the TV Remote Control

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, my name is Jamila. I’m calling from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Hi, Jamila. Welcome to the program. What’s on your mind?

So, growing up, we always called the remote a clicker.

I’ve never heard any of my friends use the word clicker.

It was actually one of the things that I would get picked on growing up with saying clicker.

And I actually never heard any of my family members use it.

So I had to train myself growing up to say remote.

So I was wondering where did the term clicker come from?

My dad is from Newark, New Jersey, and my mom’s from a small city called Forest City, North Carolina.

So they’re from two different regions.

But somehow we got stuck saying the word clicker for remote.

So your friends, when they challenged you on saying clicker for the television remote, what did they say besides a remote?

Did they all say remote?

Everyone said remote.

There’s not one person that has known that says clicker.

Martha, that really surprises me.

It really surprises me, too, Jamila.

You are in good company, I’ve got to tell you.

A lot of people use clicker.

I use clicker.

Do you, Grant?

No, I just say remote.

Okay.

But I’ve heard so many other terms for it.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Doofor and flicker and channel changer.

Zapper.

Zapper.

Oh, wow.

Clicker is a perfectly legitimate word.

And you were asking about the history of it.

It actually goes back to the 1950s.

The first kind of television remote was called, it was connected by a cord to the TV.

And get this.

It was called Lazy Bones.

Oh, that’s unique.

In 1956, they made the first commercially successful wireless remote, and they called that the Zenith Space Command.

That was the brand name for it.

But the thing is that those old clickers actually clicked when they were changing the channels.

They made a noise, and that’s why so many people started calling them clickers rather than remote.

Oh, nice. Okay.

Yeah.

Okay, that’s pretty self-explanatory.

Growing up, my parents were a lot older than my friend’s parents.

So I guess, like, you know, they were just a different generation,

So maybe they weren’t exposed to the clicker term.

I think the more important question, Jamila, is who controls the clicker in your house?

Oh, my mom.

She calls it the clicker?

She does.

Yes.

Okay, well, that’s what it is.

Thank you all so much.

I greatly appreciate it.

Take care of yourself.

Yeah, thanks for calling.

Bye-bye.

Yeah, have a great one.

You too.

Bye-bye.

Well, don’t zap that channel.

Don’t flip it.

Don’t use a remote to turn us away.

Instead, use your telephone to call us at 877-929-9673.