Now I don’t understand any longer. Obviously we have here a difference between Europe and America!
What we mean is an “electric torch” as the Britains call it (at least they did in former times, according to my dictionary and my student’s time at Oxford in the sixties). Is there any better word in Britain today?
But indeed: I learn that the Americans call that “flashlight”. What a strange use of that word!
In my view a flashlight produces a short flash only, for instance for photographing our fish with a camera. There is no use for this apparatus in observing the dark interior of a cave, if you won’t make a photograph. Instead, you need an equipment producing a contant small beam of light. Mostly this item could be rather small that it fits into one’s trouser pocket; so the Germans call it “Taschenlampe” = “pocket lamp”.
I don’t want to say that the Germans have the best word for it (they have not because there is no affinity to trousers and pockets) but I dare say: “flashlight” is not better either! Is there anybody able to help us linguistically?