jupinalle
n.— «In most languages the terms used for mobile phones reflect their two salient features: mobility and intimacy. Finnish teenagers called mobile phones “jupinalle” (meaning yuppie teddy bears); now they call them “kannykka” or “kanny”, a Nokia trademark that passed into generic parlance and means extension of the hand. In German, a mobile is a “handy”; in Arabic it’s “el mobile”, but also “sayaar” or “makhmul”, terms that refer to portability. In Japanese it is “keitai denwa”, a carried telephone. It all adds up to an exhilarating feeling of liberty: call anyone, any time, from anywhere.» —“Never Alone” The Age (Australia) May 15, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The German phrase Der Bus hält an jeder Milchkanne literally translates as “The bus stops at every milk can,” and refers to a bus that stops at every little out-of-the-way town. This is part of a complete episode.
Related
How and why do words from one language find their way into another? Vietnamese, for instance, includes lots of words borrowed or adapted from French. Such linguistic mixing often happens when languages brush up against each other and speakers reach...