Metaphor of the Month! Burner Phone

Pile of old phonesMany pleasure-travelers are opting for a burner phone this year, a generic prepaid device that does. not contain their personal information. So are many corporate and governmental employees traveling to surveillance states like China.

But where did the idea of a phone we might burn up when done come from? The OED dates the term back to 1996 as first usage, the era of my first phone, a flip-phone called a TracPhone. The Rap lyrics are so dirty I can’t quote them here. But suffice to say, the brains at The OED found this first usage.

We already have what I would call “burner cars” (in the Upper Midwest, they are called Winter Beaters) and “burner clothes” (tragically unsustainable fast-fashion clothing). I suppose some readers may even have “burner friends.” Don’t tell me.

I have an inkling that we’ll be using the adjective “burner” in many more new metaphors in the times to come. Frequency of use for our metaphor continues to rise on a steady slope.

TracPhone is still around. I’ll get one for my next international trip. I’ll only want basic browsing, texts, voice, and the ability to take photos. I don’t use much social media with on the road.

Given reports of Americans’ social-media histories being demanded when they re-enter the US, I’m taking a “burner phone” to Canada next year. Frankly, my Constitutionally protected speech is none of TSA’s or Customs and Enforcement’s darned business, unless I advocate something illegal. And I don’t do that.

Safe travels.

Send me words and metaphors that express your freedom of speech by emailing me (jessid -at- richmond -dot- edu) or leaving a comment below.

See all of our Metaphors of the Month here and Words of the Week here.

Creative-Commons image: courtesy of Adrian Clark at Flickr.

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