A little black book is an address book that can reveal information about past and potential romantic partners. It can also contain the names of people who have engaged in illegal activities. Modern technology has replaced physical address books, but some still prefer the old-fashioned way for privacy reasons.
The “little black book” is a term for an address book and, in its simplest sense, can simply be a small book in which a person keeps important contact information about friends, family, and business acquaintances. The term most often refers to address books that can reveal information about people’s past boyfriends or girlfriends, as well as potential dates in the future. It is related to romance, dating or sexual escapades. Also, occasionally a “black book” contains the names and numbers of notable people who have engaged in certain illegal activities, such as patronizing prostitutes or escort services. Some court cases, such as that of Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, deeply concerned people who had celebrity status and were listed in her little black book.
Essentially, the book doesn’t have to be small or black – it’s just a list of names and information. The latest personal digital assistants are likely to be the little black book in the modern dating/romance sense. Plus, they’re simply convenient and easy places to store your contact information. The era of actually keeping a physical address book where entries are written by hand is fast fading, as storing information becomes the job of computers as small as larger. Even a cell phone with more capabilities can be the modern black book, whatever its intent.
With smartphones, users not only have a repository of addresses, names and numbers, but also have the ability to email or directly call anyone on the list, just by selecting their name. This definitely speeds up the process of contacting people. Additionally, people can use some handheld devices to access not only people’s addresses, but also maps of their homes.
However, some people keep a handwritten address book if they just prefer the old-fashioned way of keeping addresses. Often the book is in alphabetical order, so the user writes addresses in each section. Some of the older style books have removable sheets of paper, similar to a small binder. Users can purchase more paper if they fill up an entire section of the alphabet and need more space to add more addresses.
Others keep an old-fashioned handwritten address book because they prefer to keep information private, which isn’t such an easy thing to do if someone hacks into a computer. Unlike a computer of any size, a small physical black book could be burned if the owner wishes to get rid of incriminating evidence. On the other hand, when the book has been a record of romantic conquests, the owner may no longer need it if he’s in a committed relationship.
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