Pocket Dialing vs. Butt Dialing

I was listening to a talk show on the radio one day last week while driving and one of the hosts, a guy, said that with the advent of cell phones, butt dialing is becoming a “word” in the English language.  I tried to listen some more and see if he would comment on the fact that, presently, the standard, official and more preferred word for the same thing is pocket dialing; but he didn’t, and neither did the other host (a female).

Pocket dialing is official and has been added to the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) this year.  (It can’t get any more official than that.)  Pocket dialing makes more sense because accidental and inadvertent dialing happens more while the phone is in a pocket regardless of where the pocket is found on one’s clothing, and not just the “rear” pockets.  In other words the phone does not get dialed exclusively by a person's "rear" considering that there are also front and side pockets.  Many times I wear cargo shorts and my phone can be in any of its many pockets when it gets dialed inadvertently - again, not just when it’s in the back/butt pockets. Moreover, pockets, wherever they are on one’s clothes, get pushed against other things (besides you know what) together with their contents, including cell phones which can then be dialed. And even if the cell phone is in a purse when it gets dialed unintentionally, chances are that it was in a pocket inside the purse.

While pocket dialing is now the official and proper word, butt dialing is the slangy, if not the pejorative, one.

And if you’re Samoan and happen to be one of those who would care less about these ambiguities, then maybe the Samoan versions will change that.  Consider “vili muli/no’o”( butt dialing) and “vili taga”(pocket dialing).  LOL!

This post has been brought to you by Hot Pockets (sandwiches /snacks) and Dial (soap) whose slogan is: Pocket Dial(ing) is more kosher and cleaner.
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Note: The Samoan translations above are not yet standard/official/proper words yet, at least in the telecommunications context.