I heard someone say the laptop but I thought it was called the laptop
There's no need for a survey
You can say "the" or "the" laptop, both are correct.
I was surprised I was sure that it was called the laptop, but because the laptop was said, I thought I'd rather ask
Obviously yes.
Relevant is the Duden, which says something else.
Too bad, I looked exactly in the Duden and it says exactly that: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Laptop
Both! One is colloquial language, the other is grammar:-)
According to Duden, both are correct ^^ + gg
We did not translate laptop (on-the-lap) in German, i.e. We use the word synonymously with German terms such as (mobile) calculator or the English variant computer (to compute).
These terms are always masculine, so the laptop is masculine too.
There are now two possibilities why one could use the neutral form, one because it is used synonymously with notebook (the notebook), which would be legitimate but something thought around the corner or…
Since it is a composition of lap (lap) and top (above), some people, as is usual with German word compositions, think the last link is decisive and the top is neutral in German when it is used as a designation for Top is used (analogous to the tank top, the spaghetti top…). But 'top' in laptop does not denote a subject but is a preposition. In German we can't form compositions like this. In addition, the same speaker would have to say the desktop, which I have never heard before and sounds even more stupid than the laptop.
By the way, both are allowed, but if you ask me, using a neutral article for laptops is pointless.
Thank you I was amazed because "that" laptop was said
