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We have a word “Gala-kei-ガラ携” which is an abbreviation of “Galapagos (shortened as Gala” and “mobile phone (shortened as “Kei”) meaning outdated mobile phone as opposed to advanced smart-phones in Japanese. We also call a person who sticks to old way of thinking “Galapagosu jin –ガラパゴス人.” Jin means people.

I heard in this site that most nouns can be used as a verb as well. For instance, an aggressive restaurant waitress retorts the patron by snapping back "Don't you 'young lady' me, smart guy," to the patron's growl,"You listen to me young lady," in the episode (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2014/06/lunch-at-gitlitzs.html) in the New Yorker magazine I quoted in my previous post, "What does “There she blows’” mean?"

Is the word “galapagos” transferable into adjective (e.g. galapagos mind-set) and verb (e.g. galapagosize) in English to mean “outdated” or "anachronistic" in the same way as ‘fossil’ verbalized into ‘fossilize’?

If it’s not transferable, what would it be the equivalent English word to “Garakei,” Garapagosu jin” and “Garapagostic bigotory?

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Yoichi Oishi
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    The first time I have seen your name with the diamond - congratulations! – StoneyB on hiatus Jun 25 '14 at 12:26
  • @StoneyB. My name with diamond? I don't understand. What is it? – Yoichi Oishi Jun 25 '14 at 12:31
  • @YoichiOishi He means the diamond ♦ next to your name. – ProgramFOX Jun 25 '14 at 12:33
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    Moderator diamond – mplungjan Jun 25 '14 at 12:34
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    Oh well. Thank you. I didn't notice that. – Yoichi Oishi Jun 25 '14 at 12:41
  • I've never seen this expression in English, but Googling shows a lot of hits on Galapagos technology - with specific reference to a Japanese "Galapagos syndrome". It could very well happen in the not-too-distant future that English will extend this borrowing and use it as freely as your language - including adjectival, adverbial, and verbal uses. – StoneyB on hiatus Jun 25 '14 at 15:09
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    I've never seen it before (in English). Is "Galapagos" here in reference to the famed Galapagos Islands of Charles Darwin fame? If so, it's an exceedingly odd usage and I hope it never takes root in English. I would agree with @mplungjan's answer of "dino-" (prefix) or "dinosaur" (adjective) being more customary in English. – Phil Perry Jun 25 '14 at 15:29
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    @Yoichi: I think, It would be nice if you can modify the question to ask the equivalent of this in English also. (instead of just asking about Galapagos, because answers are going towards that also) – ermanen Jun 25 '14 at 18:46
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    In English the Galapagos Islands do not have connotations of antiquity or obsolescence. They are associated with evolution and new things. I have been there, I felt no sense of age at all. Perhaps this is why the word is not used as an adjective. As others have said, use Dinosaur. – Chenmunka Jun 25 '14 at 18:59
  • There might not be an acceptable verb form for whatever word you decide on: An outdated phone doesn't really "outdate" - it just becomes outdated because a new phone has replaced it. – 4444 Jun 25 '14 at 19:09
  • It’s not entirely clear from the way you’ve worded it whether a ガラ携 is just any phone that is not a smartphone (whether outdated or not), or whether it is just any phone that is outdated and obsolete (whether a smartphone or not). If it is in fact the former, the usual English term is *dumbphone*; if the latter, I don’t think there is a specific word. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Jun 25 '14 at 19:43
  • @user568458. It should be "most nouns can be used as verbs." I was careless. Than you for pointing out it. – Yoichi Oishi Jun 25 '14 at 20:57
  • @Janus Bahs Jacquet. a ガラ携 refers to outdated mobile-phone, current a generation before smart phone. As I'm one of very few "Galapagosic" old man who don't use neither ガラ携 or old-type mobile phone, I can'tell the difference well. The old, fixed home telephone suffice me. – Yoichi Oishi Jun 25 '14 at 21:09
  • English language Wikipedia article on Galapagos syndrome: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galápagos_syndrome – Golden Cuy Jun 26 '14 at 00:53
  • @emanen. Thank you for giving me a good advice. I added a question about English equivalent of the Japanese palagagos compounds per your suggestion. – Yoichi Oishi Jun 26 '14 at 05:17
  • @mplungian. I didn't notice the Diamond mark until being told by StoneyB and you, as it looks square in shape, and doesn't look like a diamond at all. – Yoichi Oishi Jun 26 '14 at 05:24
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhombus - The rhombus is often called a diamond, after the diamonds suit in playing cards – mplungjan Jun 26 '14 at 05:27
  • I don’t believe anyone has mentioned this, but I am guessing that it is the giant Galápagos tortoises, renowned for their longevity, that have given rise to this expression. – tchrist Jun 26 '14 at 05:40

3 Answers3

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In English the word most matching your usage is

Dinosaur

  1. a fossil reptile of the Mesozoic era, often reaching an enormous size.

  2. a person or thing that is outdated or has become obsolete because of failure to adapt to changing circumstances.

For example

  • I love my dinosaur phone

    The real reason I haven’t upgraded my phone – even though it would be convenient, even though everyone else has, even though smartphones are really incredibly cool and aesthetically pleasing and goddamn I love fingerprinting technology ... is that I don’t really need to.

  • The Office Phone Is Not a Dinosaur.

    Office phones really are very much in use even if many of us also have a cell phone at work.

  • MAKING THE SWITCH: 9 SIGNS IT’S TIME TO UPGRADE YOUR PHONE

    Some people like to have the latest and greatest technology when it comes to cell phones, but others are perfectly content to use their old phones until they go obsolete. If you're on the latter end, take a look at these 9 signs that it's time to upgrade your phone. After all, you can't use your 'dinosaur' phone forever..

Other usage

  • Bitcoin Is a High-Tech Dinosaur Soon to Be Extinct

    Bitcoin is the future, they tell us; it heralds a future where private, stateless currencies will dethrone the dollar and other monetary dinosaurs.
    Sorry, but Bitcoin isn’t the future. If anything, it’s a throwback to an earlier era, when private currencies circulated alongside government-sponsored money. I

  • I've never spent a lot of time on Java before; I'm such a dinosaur that my studies preceded the Java craze

mplungjan
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    +1. I'm not sure whether a Nokia 2140 is a dinosaur phone though. Perhaps it is. [I used to have one of those. Brilliant in its day.] – Andrew Leach Jun 25 '14 at 12:37
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    A colleague has one still. I get SMSs in all uppercase. I am surprised it even can access any current networks – mplungjan Jun 25 '14 at 13:07
  • +1 Can't really be used in verb/adjective form, but I am totally going to start using "dinosaur" around the office. – 4444 Jun 25 '14 at 19:06
  • @Doc No I wont. – Doc Jun 25 '14 at 19:36
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    Creating a shortened form akin to Japanese ガラ携, my immediate thought was dinophone … but then that somehow makes me think of purple Flintstone pets … – Janus Bahs Jacquet Jun 25 '14 at 19:40
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    I would say 'antediluvian', which means 'before the flood'; referring to the biblical flood in the old testament. It's used as a hyperbolic way to say something is very old. – Dave Magner Jun 25 '14 at 21:01
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    @mplungjan old phone networks linger for ever. It was only about a decade ago that most of the world shut down 1g analog systems. I don't know about where you live; but the 4 major US carriers are planning to continue operating their primary 2g networks for 2.5 to 6.5(?) or more years. (2.5 is ATT pulling its plug on jan1 2017, 6.5 is VZW being ambiguous about if 2021's the soonest they may shut it down or the longest they'll keep it up - I've seen both claims but never the original statement.) – Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight Jun 25 '14 at 21:20
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    A Nokia 2140 is definitely a dinosaur. This is a great answer - I didn't think of it, and as soon as I saw it I thought "yes!!" – GreenAsJade Jun 26 '14 at 00:29
  • A giant Galápagos tortoise sometimes seems like something from the mythical age of dinosaurs, even though of course the turtle clan are much more primitive than any dinosaur, avian or otherwise. – tchrist Jun 26 '14 at 05:42
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The short answer is no, I don't know of any English verb/adjective form of Galápagos - and when used as a noun, it's almost always referring to the geographic location. But there are plenty of other adjectives we can use to describe outdated things.

If you describe your phone as antique, dated, obsolete, or ancient, it conveys the idea that your phone is old, outdated, and should be replaced with a newer model. You can also use the term vintage, but that implies more of a positive connotation. (The owner of a "vintage phone" might be proud of how old it is and thus refuses to upgrade.)

For a more humorous effect, you can call your phone prehistoric or primordial - which aren't meant to be taken literally, but can be used to imply the phone is absurdly outdated. (Similar to dinosaur as previously mentioned)

4444
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As a (North) American, I have never heard of "Galapagos" being used that way, even though that may be the case in Japan.

I have a number of friends from that part of the world (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru) that have told me, "we sometimes feel that Japan is closer to us than the United States." One of those countries (Peru) elected a President of Japanese ancestry, the United States never has (so far).

Tom Au
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