# Diplomatic cables leaked. Wait. Cables?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906 "2019-07-11T14:57:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/1 "2019-07-11T14:57:34Z")
I didn’t even think you could still send a “cable.” Western Union halted its telegram service 13 years ago. Why aren’t diplomats using encrypted email or some other suitably modern mode of communication? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/2 "2019-07-11T15:06:08Z")
They do use modern forms of communication. [They just still call the messages cables:](https://www.diplomacy.edu/blog/what-diplomatic-cable) > [@](#): > > A diplomatic cable is a diplomatic message. The etymology goes back to the mid-nineteenth century when the first diplomatic messages were sent via telegraph. Telegraphs were connected by telegraph cables and the focus on telegraph as the technical device was very often on laying and managing cables (e.g. the epic attempt to lay trans-Atlantic Cable in 1860s). Since then telecommunication has evolved with diplomats using radio links, fax and today, the Internet. But, in spite of changes in technology, the term ‘cable’ remains part of diplomatic lingo. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/3 "2019-07-11T15:11:14Z")
[From Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_cable): > [@](#): > > The term cable derives from the time when the medium for such communications was international submarine communications cables. The term cablegram is also sometimes used. Due to the importance and sensitive nature of the subject matter, diplomatic cables are protected by the most elaborate security precautions to prevent unfettered access by the public, and unauthorized interception by foreign governments. They are always encrypted, frequently by unbreakable one time pad ciphers using key material distributed using diplomatic couriers. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/4 "2019-07-11T16:24:46Z")
Foreign exchange dealers refer to the sterling/dollar exchange rate as “cable”. > **[Cable (foreign exchange)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_(foreign_exchange))** > > The term cable is a slang term used by forex traders to refer to the exchange rate between the pound sterling and US dollar. The term originated in the mid-19th century, when the exchange rate between the US dollar and sterling began to be transmitted across the Atlantic by a submarine communications cable. Since that time the exchange rate has been referred to as the cable. > The first Transatlantic Cable was laid under the Atlantic Ocean in 1858, but it failed after only about a month of fitful ... ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/5 "2019-07-11T16:28:02Z")
And somewhere in the process, the electronic messages will pass along cables anyway. In the case in point, the leak may well be down to good old human malignity, as would be more consistent than technological shenanigans with the known route to publication, and the principle of cui bono. But that might be straying from the purely factual. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/6 "2019-07-11T16:33:32Z")
Next on _Ripleys’ Believe It or Not_, we still call it “dialing” a phone! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/7 "2019-07-11T17:08:18Z")
And my mom still says she “taped” a show when she records it on her DVR. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/8 "2019-07-11T17:41:36Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > And my mom still says she “taped” a show when she records it on her DVR. My mom’s iPod is full of books on tape. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/9 "2019-07-11T17:49:36Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > And my mom still says she “taped” a show when she records it on her DVR. I’ve heard people “film” things with their iPhone. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/10 "2019-07-11T18:32:57Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I’ve heard people “film” things with their iPhone. Obviously there’s a parallel in change of medium, but you say this as though it’s an occasional quirky usage. Is there some other verb for making a continuous visual recording? I can’t think of one. Isn’t this standard usage, regardless of recording medium? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/11 "2019-07-11T18:39:10Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > My mom’s iPod is full of books on tape. I can’t remember hearing that for a long while. Audiobook seems to have taken over. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/12 "2019-07-11T18:41:11Z")
Every time you “turn on” a device without actually turning anything. ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/13 "2019-07-11T18:42:12Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Obviously there’s a parallel in change of medium, but you say this as though it’s an occasional quirky usage. Is there some other verb for making a continuous visual recording? I can’t think of one. Isn’t this standard usage, regardless of recording medium? Shooting footage or videoing? ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/14 "2019-07-11T18:51:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Is there some other verb for making a continuous visual recording? record or capture ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/15 "2019-07-11T18:52:05Z")
> [@BobBitchin](#): > > …videoing? Yes, I guess that’s more common if you’re not making an actual movie. Or I suppose we’d just say “I recorded it on my iPhone”, since there’s little need to restrict our recordings to audio now so we don’t often do that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/16 "2019-07-11T19:19:28Z")
“Footage” isn’t any less obsolete than filming, because it refers to the length of film strip used (in feet). ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/17 "2019-07-11T21:13:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > “Footage” isn’t any less obsolete than filming, because it refers to the length of film strip used (in feet). And I’ve often wondered, outside the United States, do they call it “meterage”? ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/18 "2019-07-11T21:51:36Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Next on _Ripleys’ Believe It or Not_, we still call it “dialing” a phone! > > 😉 Don’t get me started on screen… ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/19 "2019-07-12T12:39:35Z")
Another person surprised by the OP’s puzzlement. Eyeglasses have not generally been made with glass for some time. Old terminology persists. One of the oddest in computing is getting a core (memory) dump. Core memory died in the early 70s. At least we’re not using the phrase “mercury memory dump”. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906/20 "2019-07-12T13:27:34Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > And I’ve often wondered, outside the United States, do they call it “meterage”? I don’t know what they used to call it in Norwegian in the film days. Definitely not meterage. But today it’s all “opptak”, “recording/s”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diplomatic-cables-leaked-wait-cables/836906.md?page=2)