Technology, Devices and the Internet
The vocabulary of screens, accounts and connections — including the verbs that describe things going wrong.
Technology vocabulary changes fast, but a stable core covers almost every everyday situation, and the verbs — nearly all of them phrasal verbs — matter more than the nouns.
Devices
laptop · desktop · tablet · smartphone · charger · cable · screen · keyboard · mouse · headphones · printer · router
Two words worth separating: hardware is the physical object, software is what runs on it. An app is software on a phone; a program is the older, desktop word.
The verbs that do the work
- turn on / off · switch on / off — power
- plug in / unplug — physical connection
- charge — My phone's charging. / The battery's dead.
- log in / log out — accounts (also sign in / sign out)
- download / upload — bring in / send out
- install / uninstall / update
- back up — copy for safety
- restart / reboot — the universal first fix
- crash / freeze — it stops working / it stops responding
The ones you do with your hands
click · tap · swipe · scroll · drag · zoom in / out · copy and paste · save · share · sync · stream · mute · block
Note scroll down a page but swipe left; and you copy something to the clipboard, then paste it into a document.
Online
account · password · username · two-factor authentication · Wi-Fi · connection · browser · tab · link · attachment · cloud · storage · notification · settings · privacy · subscription
- What's the Wi-Fi password?
- I've lost the connection.
- Could you send it as an attachment?
- It's in the cloud.
- I'm running out of storage.
On a video call
This is now among the most useful sets in the whole topic, and every phrase is fixed:
| Phrase | Means |
|---|---|
| You're on mute. | we can't hear you |
| You're breaking up. | your connection is unstable |
| Can you share your screen? | show us what you're looking at |
| I'll drop off and rejoin. | leave and come back |
| Sorry, you cut out there. | I missed what you said |
| Can everyone hear me all right? | audio check |
Staying safe
scam · phishing (a fake message trying to steal your login) · spam · virus · hack · data breach
- I think that email's a scam — don't click the link.
- My account was hacked.
- Use a strong password, and don't reuse it.
When things go wrong
- It's not responding.
- It's frozen.
- The app keeps crashing.
- It won't connect. (won't = refuses to)
- I'm getting an error message.
- Have you tried turning it off and on again?
"It won't start" is the natural way to say a device refuses to work — won't here means refusal, not future.
Talking about problems precisely
Vague: It doesn't work. Better: It turns on, but the screen stays black.
Naming what does work narrows the problem far faster, and in a technical conversation it is the difference between a useful report and a useless one.
The three questions a support conversation always comes down to:
- What exactly happens? — It shows an error message saying "connection refused".
- When did it start? — After the update on Tuesday.
- What have you tried? — I've restarted it and reinstalled the app.
Answer with what you observed, not what you concluded. The Wi-Fi's broken is a diagnosis, and usually a wrong one. My laptop connects but my phone doesn't is an observation, and it points straight at the actual problem.
Calling support
A: What seems to be the trouble?
B: The app keeps crashing when I try to log in. It started after the update.
A: Have you tried reinstalling it?
B: I have. It opens fine, but it freezes on the password screen.
A: Right — sorry, you're breaking up a bit. Could you send me a screenshot of the error message?
Precise symptom, when it began, what was already tried, and a video-call repair phrase.
Test yourself
The quiz below is mostly the verbs.