What does “portable” mean in French?

In France, un portable is a mobile phone. Je sors mon portable means “I’m getting my phone out.” It’s short for un téléphone portable, “a carry-around phone,” and it’s the everyday word. English “portable” is only an adjective, so this one trips people up. Context matters, though: un ordinateur portable, also shortened to un portable, is a laptop.

Other French-speaking places prefer different words: Québec says un cellulaire or un cell, Switzerland un natel, and Belgium often un GSM. Un smartphone works everywhere. In this sketch two friends argue about whether October has 30 or 31 days, and one reaches for his phone to check (je sors mon portable), only to be told it isn’t needed: il y a plus simple, “there’s an easier way.”