کنترل

What it means

کنترل (kontrol) means “remote control,” the small handheld device you point at the TV, air conditioner, or stereo to change the channel, volume, or settings. It is a loanword from French (contrôle) and in its abstract sense also means “control” as in کنترل کردن (to control). In a home, though, the everyday meaning is the remote in your hand, and a close, increasingly common synonym for the device is ریموت (rimot).

How to use it

• کنترل کجاست؟ (kontrol kojâst?) “where’s the remote?”
• کنترل رو بده من (kontrol ro bede man) “pass me the remote”
• کنترل تلویزیون باتری نداره (kontrol-e televizion bâtri nadâre) “the TV remote has no batteries”
• با کنترل صداش رو کم کن (bâ kontrol sedâsh ro kam kon) “turn the volume down with the remote”

Cultural note

In most Iranian living rooms there is rarely just one کنترل, since the television, the satellite receiver, and the split air conditioner each come with their own. The losing-the-remote-in-the-couch ritual is as familiar in Tehran as anywhere, and “کنترل کجاست؟” is a sentence heard nightly.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab