Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Contemporary (2000–) ·2011
Phablet
phone tablet
- Meaning
- A smartphone with a screen large enough to blur into tablet territory.
- Source words
- phone + tablet
- Coined by
- tech press
- Year
- 2011
Background
Peaked as a category name around the Samsung Galaxy Note (2011–2015); faded as every flagship phone reached phablet size and the distinction became meaningless.
Contemporary (2000–)
Faster coinage, faster canonisation. Brexit and podcast both reached the OED within a decade of first use — historically rapid. Social media has made visibility, not invention, the rate-limiting step.
Two words, one coinage.
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