何本か重要な電話をかけ、...
He made several important phone calls and ...
Originally part of this question but separated due to popular? demand.
Why is the counter 本 used in reference to phone calls?
何本か重要な電話をかけ、...
He made several important phone calls and ...
Originally part of this question but separated due to popular? demand.
Why is the counter 本 used in reference to phone calls?
To be fair, 本 = 「細長いもの」is a really popular explanation (note that is does not imply anything about being round, I think that it is an usual extrapolation due to the fact that physical objects that are long and thin are usually cylindrical).
But many usages actually go against this explanation, or a least do not fall into that classification. Consider the following examples:
As you can see, you really need to stretch your mind really far to find the thin, long thing here. At least I cannot find them...
I've made some quick research on the topic and there appears to be academical research on that topic (!). Like this one, where they distinguish 6 clusters of words to which 本 applies to.
(for the case of the phone, the "message" coming from letter thing seems plausible though.)
Does THIS answer your question?
Seems that there are a number of possible explanations though...
Parts of the phone, or the phone itself were cylindrical
Voice was transmitted via wires (long and thin)
The idea of a "message" where a written letter would be rolled up into a cylinder (letter -> telegraph -> telephone)