Name: The wallet.
Age: The word originates from the late 14th century, meaning something like knapsack. That’s how Shakespeare uses it in Troilus and Cressida, when Ulysses says: “Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back.”
Hath he now? Not an Apple Wallet, then? It would be useful for carrying apples, or any other seasonal fruit.
I meant a digital wallet. We’ll come to digital ones. But first to 1834, the first recording, in American English, of its modern use.
A flat case for carrying paper money? Exactly, and generally made of leather or fabric, foldable, pocket-sized, and sometimes with a coin pouch. Also good for credit and debit cards and passes.
Also condoms. Also condoms.
I think I know where this is going. Where?
Downhill. For the wallet, yes. Less than half of British people now carry a wallet, new research shows, even though 80% admit that they still own a wallet or purse.
Is this because of the demise of cash? And the subsequent rise in popularity and growing acceptance of digital wallets.
Are we blaming young people? For everything, yes, and certainly for this. While the oldies, who still use debit cards, are reaching for their back pockets, millennials and gen Z present a smartphone or watch. Using payment methods such as Apple Pay or Google Pay via digital wallets are now their default.
That’s bad news for the Artful Dodger, no? See also buskers, beggars and anyone without a bank account.
And cash itself? Dead and buried? Not completely. Although it is not the default for any age group, with 7% of Britons saying they carry no cash at all, more than half said they had used it in the past week.
Where? The corner shop, for example, where there is often a minimum card payment, and all you want is a Sherbet Fountain.
Luddite! But also, 60% of people said they had experienced digital payment failures, and 20% had abandoned payments altogether as a result. And look what happened in Spain and Portugal …
Anti-tourism protests? No, the power outages in the spring, when no one could buy anything. Unless you had a €20 note in your cartera/carteira.
I’m guessing those are Spanish and Portuguese for wallet. Cash may not be king, but it’s not quite for the guillotine, is that what we’re saying? Something like that. Maybe don’t take that wallet you got for Christmas to the charity shop just yet.
Who carried out this survey, by the way? Link, the network of, er, cash machines.
Do say: “There’s no place for a condom in an Apple Wallet.”
Don’t say: “Nooo, I’m out of charge.”
