ðə tˈɜːm ɪz ɹˌɛmᵻnˈɪsənt ʌv jˌuːˌɛsbˈiː flˈæʃ dɹˈaɪvz bˌʌt mˈeɪ ɛŋkˈʌmpəs ɐn ɛkstˈɜːnəl hˈɑːɹd dˈɪsk dɹˈaɪv ɔːɹ sˈɑːlɪdstˈeɪt dɹˈaɪv, ðˌoʊ ðeɪ mˈeɪ biː ɹᵻfˈɜːd tʊ æz "lˈaɪv ˌeɪtʃdˌiːdˈiː" ænd "lˈaɪv ˌɛsˌɛsdˈiː" ɹᵻspˈɛktɪvli.
The term is reminiscent of USB flash drives but may encompass an external hard disk drive or solid-state drive, though they may be referred to as "live HDD" and "live SSD" respectively.