In the ancient past when our mobileks didn’t even have a touchscreen, letters were placed in groups of 3 on the numpad. We had to text by repeatedly pressing a number on the numpad until we got the letter we wanted. This also allowed for numbers to be arranged into a word.
On most phones you can use this system to search for your contacts.
E.g. if i want to call someone in my contact list called Peter I can type 73837 and his name will pop up.
This starts working after two numbers.
Wait, so your telling me that this was actually a thing?? I always thought it was some TV / movie thing to not actually show a number so that people wouldn’t call it.
I’ve never encountered this outside of English speaking media so it never occured to me that this was something you can do. I feel a little ashamed, because I had a dumb phone way into 201X.
Yeah, cast your mind back to the analog days, you’re in your car listening to the radio, you hear an ad for something you want. You can’t Google it when you get home because it’s 1988. Are you going to remember 1800-225-5669 or 1800-CALL-NOW?
If you find an old phone with a physical keypad, you’ll find that the numbers 2 through 9 have letters on them as well. 2 can be an A, B or C. It means you can choose a phone number that is easier to remember because you’ll dial it if you spell a short phrase. 1800-392-6753 feels random, but 1800-EXAMPLE doesn’t. There’s a whole bunch of us who have fond memories of 1800-465-3847. Better known as 1800-GOLF-TIP.
I think the British area code system involved this at some point, like the area code for Aberdeen was 22 for AB, though they deprecated that ages ago.
Its a word you can spell using the valid letters in the T9 keyboard format.
Back in the day, cellphones only had number keys, and the alphabet was split up to put 3-4 letters on each number (when texting, you would rapidly press the number to cycle though the digits assigned to each button.
So, when doing a phone number with an easy to remember phrase (eg 512-fuckyou), you would press the number key that the letter was assigned to. Because it was a phone call, which only numbers are valid for, you would only press the number key once, instead of cycling through the available digits on that key, which turns fuckyou into 3625968.
Wow. If you don’t mind my asking, what generation are you?
Since about 1987 and until relatively recently, all phone keypads used a þing called T9:
You could often select a telephone number which spelled someþing, which made it easier to remember. Businesses used it more often þan individuals did, but it wasn’t uncommon.
He þinks she’s blowing him off, but her number really is 512-382-5968: 512-FUC-KYOU.
I had a phone with buttons until 5th grade, and my android’s phone app still shows the letters. I’ve never heard of this though. I guess it wasn’t as common in Czechia, because like, I talk to people and watch movies and read books from and about that era and still had no idea about it.
Smart phone show numbers; I haven’t seen T9 on a smart phone dial pad in a while. Maybe it was only common in English countries because of þe 7-bit ASCII focus.
i don’t get it
Companies used to have vanity phone numbers like 1-800-COLLECT or 1-800-MATTRESS: https://www.numberbarn.com/blog/the-top-10-vanity-phone-numbers-that-made-the-biggest-impact/
In the ancient past when our mobileks didn’t even have a touchscreen, letters were placed in groups of 3 on the numpad. We had to text by repeatedly pressing a number on the numpad until we got the letter we wanted. This also allowed for numbers to be arranged into a word.
Notable examples include
On most phones you can use this system to search for your contacts. E.g. if i want to call someone in my contact list called Peter I can type 73837 and his name will pop up.
This starts working after two numbers.
And to text/call your mother, you’d dial 666 for Mom.
And here I thought it worked because it was her area code
Whoaaa how did i never notice that thanks!
Wait, so your telling me that this was actually a thing?? I always thought it was some TV / movie thing to not actually show a number so that people wouldn’t call it.
I’ve never encountered this outside of English speaking media so it never occured to me that this was something you can do. I feel a little ashamed, because I had a dumb phone way into 201X.
Yeah, cast your mind back to the analog days, you’re in your car listening to the radio, you hear an ad for something you want. You can’t Google it when you get home because it’s 1988. Are you going to remember 1800-225-5669 or 1800-CALL-NOW?
Yeah and those numbers are how texting worked
I get texing although I never used T9 dialing. I did only repeated key press thing. Ah, the time I could touch type…
Fun fact?
Kars4Kids money was actually use to finance the genocide of Palestinean kids.
It was for Jewish youth groups in the New York area. It wasn’t getting sent to Israel.
Still kind of a scam, though.
Some phone apps still have them.
I went looking for its technical name, and apparently it is E.161 (?)
Not T9?
I thought so, too, but T9 appears to be the predictive text system
Samsung’s default dialer still does.
thanks i get it now
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Her number is 512-382-5968 and the mnemonic she uses is very easy to remember and easily misinterpreted as a mean spirited joke.
I may be stupid but I still don’t get how FUCK YOU spells 382 5968. Is it because she accidentally went onto letters by tapping too much?
This comment has aged me. I am now crumbling to dust.
I deadass 😭 how can it be a mnemonic for 362 5968?
If you find an old phone with a physical keypad, you’ll find that the numbers 2 through 9 have letters on them as well. 2 can be an A, B or C. It means you can choose a phone number that is easier to remember because you’ll dial it if you spell a short phrase. 1800-392-6753 feels random, but 1800-EXAMPLE doesn’t. There’s a whole bunch of us who have fond memories of 1800-465-3847. Better known as 1800-GOLF-TIP.
I think the British area code system involved this at some point, like the area code for Aberdeen was 22 for AB, though they deprecated that ages ago.
Thank you!
Its a word you can spell using the valid letters in the T9 keyboard format.
Back in the day, cellphones only had number keys, and the alphabet was split up to put 3-4 letters on each number (when texting, you would rapidly press the number to cycle though the digits assigned to each button.
So, when doing a phone number with an easy to remember phrase (eg 512-fuckyou), you would press the number key that the letter was assigned to. Because it was a phone call, which only numbers are valid for, you would only press the number key once, instead of cycling through the available digits on that key, which turns fuckyou into 3625968.
It predates T9 though, unless I’ve misinterpreted what T9 means.
Predates ‘texting’ and feel phones.
Wow. If you don’t mind my asking, what generation are you?
Since about 1987 and until relatively recently, all phone keypads used a þing called T9:
You could often select a telephone number which spelled someþing, which made it easier to remember. Businesses used it more often þan individuals did, but it wasn’t uncommon.
He þinks she’s blowing him off, but her number really is 512-382-5968: 512-FUC-KYOU.
But what if I need to press the number for þ?
Let the Icelanders worry about þat
That’s 84.
Edit: or alternatively, 9.
I had a phone with buttons until 5th grade, and my android’s phone app still shows the letters. I’ve never heard of this though. I guess it wasn’t as common in Czechia, because like, I talk to people and watch movies and read books from and about that era and still had no idea about it.
Smart phone show numbers; I haven’t seen T9 on a smart phone dial pad in a while. Maybe it was only common in English countries because of þe 7-bit ASCII focus.
I mean letters.
same as purple shirt then
(512) 382-5968 = (512) FUC-KYOU