Pass me the hoofer doofer: What do you call your TV remote control?
A survey reveals the many names Brits call their TV remote, from "zapper" to "turny-over machine".
Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
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I don't like this show -- pass me the diddly do.
British people use more than 100 different names for their TV remote control, from the obvious "remote" to the, er, less obvious. According to a new survey, "doofer", "zapper", "clicker" and "flicker" are the next most popular, with "thing-a-ma-jig" and "whatcha-ma-call-it" also popular.
The UK's TV Licensing authority held the poll, which found names for the remote including "gadget", "gizmo" and "telly commander". What do your call yours?
Here's some of the names we use for our remote:
- Beep Beeps
- Blaster
- Bleeper
- Blipper
- Blodger
- Button (or Buttons)
- Calc
- Calculator
- Chaneller
- Channel Changer
- Chopper
- Click Clack
- Clicker
- Clicky
- Cloncker
- Control Panel
- Dibber
- Dib Dob
- Diba Dabba
- Dicker Docker
- Diddler
- Diddly Do
- Didgey
- Dinger
- Doflicker
- Donker
- Doobry
- Doodah
- Doodlestick
- Doof
- Doofar
- Doofrey
- Doosher
- Doot-doot
- Doo-ve-whacker
- Fat Controller
- Flicker
- Flicker Dicker
- Flickybox
- Flipper
- Frank
- Gadget
- Gizmo
- Gun
- Hamburger
- Hoofer Doofer
- Hurdy Gurdy
- Husband's Toy
- Jigger
- Jobber
- Knobs
- Mote
- Note
- Oobrie doobie
- Panic Button
- Plinker
- Plonker
- Pointything
- Presser
- Rem Rom
- Remington
- Romo
- Ronnie Remote
- Stick
- Switcher
- Telly Commander
- Telly-mote
- Tellything
- The Black Box
- The Box (or TV Box)
- The Wizard Stick
- Thing-a-ma-jig
- Thingy
- Turny-over Machine
- TV Gun
- Wand
- Whatcha-ma-call-it
- Widget
- Zapper
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