Calling a Laptop a "Lap"

[CoreySamson]

Reading some bandit threads triggered a memory I forgot I had...

I remember I was watching Sesame Street about 15-ish years ago as a kid. There was a segment which I believe was called "Word on the Street" where the host Murray went around the streets of New York talking about words. I remember that one week, he was interviewing people, asking them what they had on them that began with the letter L. One guy he interviewed had a laptop, but he referred to it as a "lap." I was confused about what the interviewed guy meant at first, as I have never heard anyone call a laptop that before or since. Is calling a laptop a "lap" actually slang, or is it just some one-off term this guy invented? More importantly, does anyone remember this?

[freebrickproductions]

I have literally never heard anyone call a laptop a "lap".

[Rothman]

My Sesame Street days were well before yours, so no, I don't remember this.

[Max Rockatansky]

I used to think that Cookie Monster revealing that his name was Sid was something I cooked up in my head.  It turns out that was actually real, so who knows about this lap/laptop business.

[jgb191]

I've heard laptops being called 'notebooks' or 'electronic-notebooks' occasionally but not a 'lap'.

[interstatefan990]

Never heard of that name. You wouldn't call a desktop computer a "desk".

[Dirt Roads]

Never heard of that name. You wouldn't call a desktop computer a "desk".

Ah, but in the olden days of computing "on my desktop" meant something different than "on my laptop".  The some WIMP came along an hijacked the word "desktop". 

[LilianaUwU]

oh that's why my gf got mad at me for sitting on her computer

[Molandfreak]

I've heard laptops being called 'notebooks' or 'electronic-notebooks' occasionally but not a 'lap'.

Notebooks are (or were, really) a specific type of laptop like the Asus eee pc.

[PNWRoadgeek]

I've heard laptops being called 'notebooks' or 'electronic-notebooks' occasionally but not a 'lap'.

Notebooks are (or were, really) a specific type of laptop like the Asus eee pc.

That's certainly a name for a pc.

Meanwhile, I feel like Sesame Street was trying to push something with this "lap" term but it just never became anything.

Huh.

[kphoger]

There was a segment which I believe was called "Word on the Street" where the host Murray went around the streets of New York talking about words. I remember that one week, he was interviewing people, asking them what they had on them that began with the letter L.

Here's a list of all the What's the Word on the Street? segments, but I don't think they generally focus on a single letter of the alphabet.

[ClassicHasClass]

https://homestarrunner.fandom.com/wiki/Lappy_486

[1995hoo]

This thread is making me think of the time when Brian Wilson wanted to rename his band because they were no longer "boys." He wanted to shorten the name to simply the "Beach."

[SSOWorld]

https://homestarrunner.fandom.com/wiki/Lappy_486

Exactly