Is a smartwatch a wearable device? Yes, and the phone too. And even a laptop

When the term burst into the space of language wearable (device), they began to translate it into Russian in one of two ways: wearable and underwear… Over time, the first option almost won: a Google search for “wearable devices” (with an exact match) gives 863 thousand, “wearable devices” – only 3550. Now I will explain why the first option is wrong.

My friends, phones and tablets are wearable too. They are worn in the hand, in a pocket, etc. This is not something specific to devices such as smart watches or bracelets. However, the English verb wear is just specific to watches or bracelets for the simple reason that it implies donning on the body. Watch can wear, but the telephone is not allowed. That is why and wearable…

And therefore wearable device as translation wearable device – a very unfortunate option. This is another case out of many, when the translator wrote that the first thing came to mind (apparently, he takes payment for the time), but for some reason the option got fixed and took off. Wearable devices are not watches or bracelets at all, at least not only they. In this sense underwear much better. This word exactly matches the logic of English wearable: something that is worn over a part of the body, like clothing.

A more literal option would be put on, but someone will say that it is long and heavy. I have always written and I continue to write underwear…