You've found nomeaning.net's even newer, more improved Phone Number Translator!

Developed in the 1950s, the now ubiquitous telephone keypad was first introduced to the public at the 1964 New York World's Fair by Bell Labs in 1964. But letters were associated with telephone numbers long before than that (although I'm not quite sure when).  They certainly wouldn't have appeared after the invention of the automatic telephone exchange in 1891.

Originally, only 24 letters of the English alphabet were represented, and two-letter combinations were used as part of every US telephone number, to specify the telephone exchange. 

The modern telephone keypad isn't exactly ideal for writing words, but if you're lucky enough to have (or be able to choose) a telephone number that doesn't contain the digits 1 or 0 (which don't correspond to any letters on most phones), your number might spell something cool, something funny, or even something embarassing.  Whatever it spells, it's sure to make your number easier to remember.

For the average 7-digit phone number, there are around 3,000 possible combinations of letters, some of which might actually spell something.  This translator will use an English dictionary to try and find known words spelled within your number.

It is only since the advent of the mobile phone that Q and Z have become common on telephone keypads.

Enter a telephone number (from 2 to 8 digits long) to look up:  
(Remember, the digits 1 and 0 do not represent letters of the alphabet!)

Show every possible combination of letters (you get to look for the words yourself).

Hello there. You're testing my newer, harder-working phone number translator.   I'm still trying to find out the most useful way to display the matches, and the way it works my change at any time.  Only words of three or more letters are currently matched.
If you have any comments, please email me.