voice novel
n. An extremely long voice mail message.
Examples
2000
Voice novel: noun. Extremely long voice mail message. Typically found on old-style home answering machines with tapes, because the newer home models with "digital memory" just cut off the long-winded people.
—Rachel Emma Silverman, “Buzzwords of tomorrow speak volumes,” The Globe and Mail (Canada), January 07, 2000
1998
At first, many of these acronyms and neologisms (such as webmonkey and GIF jockey) were used by non-tech types to show off their knowledge of high-tech's burgeoning subculture. It was fun to know the meaning of SGML and refer to lengthy phone messages as voice novels.
—Jimmy Guterman, “Wired Words,” Chicago Tribune, March 11, 1998
1997 (earliest)
Voice novel — A voice mail message that goes on forever.
—“Random access,” The Houston Chronicle, June 22, 1997
Filed Under
telephones
Posted: March 12, 1998